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A  N 

ENQUIRY 

INTO   THE 

LEARNING 

OF 

SHAKESPEARE, 

WITH 

R  E  M  A  R  K  S 

ON    SEVERAL 

*       P  A  S  S  A  G  E  S  of  his  P  L  A  Y  S. 

In  a  CONVERSATION  between 

E  UG  E  NIUS  and  NE4  NDER. 

} 

Ttoftrina  Vim  promovet  in/it  am.  HOR, 

By  PETER  tFHALLET,  A.  B. 

Fellow  of  St.  JOHN'S  COLLEGE,  OXFORD. 

LONDON? 

Printed  for  T.  WALLER,  at  the  Cr<nun  and  Mitre  oppofitc 
to  Fetter  -lane  in  Fleet  -jireet.     1748. 

[Price  One  Shilling  and  Six-pence.] 


PR 


[Hi] 


THE 


PREFACE. 


TH  E  following  Obfervations  were  de- 
figned  at  firft,  as  Matter  of  Curiofity 
and  Amufement  to  my  felf.    In  read- 
ing the  Plays  of  Shakefpeare,  I  could  not  help 
comparing  fome  Paflages,  with  fimilar  ones  in 
the  other  Drammatic  Writers  of  the  fame  and 
fubfequent  Age.     I  found  they  mutually  bor- 
rowed, and  reflected  Light  upon  each  other  ; 
and  confpired  to  fet  the  Manners  of  the  Times 
in  a  clearer  View,  than  either  of  them  could 
have  done  alone.     It  is  with  the  Cuftoms  of  a 
Nation,  as  it  is  with  Drefs :  Every  Reign  al- 
A  2  moil 


iv  PREFACE. 

moft  differs  in  fomething  from  that  preceding 
it*  And  the  Habits  of  our  old  Englijh  Co- 
medy do  not  vary  more  from  thofe  of  the  pre- 
ient,  than  the  Wit  and  Humour,  whieh  is  al- 
ways adapted  to  the  Age,  is  changed  from 
what  it  was  in  the  Days  of  our  Anceftors. 

The  Learning  of  the  Poet  having  been  long 
made,  a  Queftion,  I  recolleded  many  parallel 
Places,  which  I  had  taken  notice  of  in  the 
Study  of  the  Claffics.     Upon  bringing  them 
together,  I  perceived  a  very  manifeft  Confor- 
mity between  them  ;  fufficient  in  fome  Mea- 
fure  to  perfuade  one,   that  Shakefpeare  was 
more  indebted  to  the  Ancients  than  is  com- 
monly imagined.  FavouritePrepoffeffions  ufu- 
ally  operate  very  ftrongly  on  the  Mind  $  and 
Parties  of  all  kinds  are  feldom  fetisfied,  with- 
out pufhing  their  Sentiments  to  indefenfible 
Extremes.     This  probably  may  be  the  real 
Cafe  with  regard  to  the  Difpute  about  our 
Poet.     From  being  thought  to  have  no  Learn- 
ing, he  may  be  reprefented  to  have  read  too 
much ;  or  at  leaft  to  have  read  more  than 
what  may  be  fairly  collected  from  his  Plays. 
Thus  his  Advocates,  through  Excefs  of  Zeal, 
may  deftroy   that  Caufe  they    are   defirous 
to   fupport.      Nothing   is  advanced   in   the 
Quotations  I  have  produced,  but  what  ftruck 

me 


PREFACE.  v 

me  immediately  upon  the  firft  reading.  It 
had  been  an  eafy  Matter  to  have  multiplied 
Citations ;  and  to  have  poured  in  a  Profufion 
of  Learning  in  Defence  of  the  prefent  Opi- 
nion. But  I  was  intirely  unwilling  to  over- 
charge ;  and  chofe  rather  to  rely  on  a  few 
WitnefTes  of  Credit,  than  to  call  in  a  Multi- 
tude of  fufpedted  Teftimonies. 

«* 

That  Shakefpeare  was  not  altogether  unac- 
quainted with  the  dead  Languages,  is  plain 
from  the  Confeflion  of  his  Adverfaries  j  and 
from  the  Authority  of  Johnfon,  who  allows 
him  a  fmall  Portion  both  of  Greek  and  Latin. 
We  may  venture  to  go  fomewhat  further; 
and  fay,  that  he  not  only  underftood  thofe 
Languages,  but  that  he  arrived  to  a  Tafte 
and  Elegance  of  Judgment,  particularly  in  the 
Latter.  Of  this  the  Tragedy  of  Hamlet  is  an 
irrefragable  Inftance. 

Saxo,  the  Danifn  Hiftorian,  from  whom  hs 
took  the  Plot,  is  remarkable  for  a  Purity  of 
Style,  beyond  any  other  Writer  of  the  Times 
in  which  he  lived.  And  the  Critics  are  fur- 
prized  to  find  an  Author  of  fuch  Politenefe 
in  fo  rude  and  ignorant  an  Age.  Skdkefpeare 
muft  certainly  have  read  him  in  the  Original ; 
for  no  Tranflation  hath  been  ever  yet  made 

into 


vi  P  R  E  FA  C  E. 

into  any  modern  Language.  His  rejecting 
certain  marvellous  Occurrences,  which  the 
Hiflorian  has  inferted  from  the  Traditions  of 
his  Countrymen,  fhews  that  he  not  only  read 
him  for  Information,  but  that  he  fludied  him 
as  a  Critic.  Though  he  hath  taken  from  him 
the  Fact  of  Ham/ef's  counterfeited  Madnefs, 
and  many  other  Circumftances  of  the  Play, 
yet  he  has  varied  from  the  Narration  in  fe- 
veral  Incidents.  The  Addition  of  the  Ghoft 
is  probably  from  his  own  Imagination  ;  and 
the  Conclufion  of  the  whole  is  different  from 
the  Relation  of  Saxo.  If  I  may  be  permitted, 
with  Submiffion,  to  declare  my  Sentiment, 
the  Catafirophe  is  exceedingly  ill  managed, 
and  very  unequal  to  the  reft  of  the  Play.  It, 
differs  as  much  likewife  from  the  Truth  of 
Hiftory,  which  informs  us,  that  Hamlet  fur- 
vived  the  Ufurper,  and  died  a  natural  Death. 
But  the  Departure  from  an  ancient  Fact  is 
eafily  pardoned,  when  it  occafions  a  fine  Dif- 
trefs,  or  any  extraordinary  Scene  of  A&ion. 
Yet  neither  of  thefe,  I  apprehend,  is  accom- 
plifhed  by  the  Death  of  Hamlet. 

Upon  reviewing  my  Remarks,  which  were 
wrote  at  a  time  when  the  Amufement  of 
Wit  are  fuffered  to  mingle  with  other  Studies, 
I  found  that  moft  of  them  continued  to  be 

unobferved 


PREFACE.  vii 

unobferved  by  the  Editors  of  Shakefpeare ;  or 
were  not  confidered  in  the  fame  Light  in 
which  I  faw  them.  Hence  I  imagined  they 
might  probably  contain  fomething,  which  the 
Admirers  of  this  Author  would  not  be  dif- 
pleafed  to  meet  with.  I  have  purpofely 
avoided  to  make  any  Alterations  in  the  Text, 
one  or  two  Inftances  excepted  :  For  after  all 
that  has  been  offered  orchis  Head,  I  believe 
it  not  impoffible  to  make  ftill  fome  additional 
Corrections.  I  would  not  be  underftood  to 
include  the  laft  Edition,  which  I  denied  my- 
felf  the  Pleafure  of  perufing.  If  therefore  I 
have  any  thing  in  common  with  that,  it  ariies 
from  the  fame  general  Fund  of  Obfer- 
vation. 

It  may  be  neceflary,  perhaps,  to  apologize 
to  the  Reader,  for  fome  Remarks  which  I 
have  introduced  by  the  way,  and  for  the 
manner  in  which  this  Enquiry  is  executed  ; 
though  I  would  hope  that  I  have  mentioned 
nothing,  but  what  hath  fome  Connection 
with  the  Point  in  view.  To  the  Subject  it- 
felf,  I  believe  he  will  have  no  Exception ; 
efpecially  if  he  confiders  what  hath  been 
lately  publiftied  of  this  kind,  by  feveral  Re- 
verend and  learned  Gentlemen.  Nor  indeed 
can  it  reafonably  be  deemed  inconfiftent  with 

any 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 

any  Character,  to  endeavour  to  illuftrate  the 
Writings  of  a  Genius,  who  is  an  Honour  to 
Mankind ;  and  who  does  not  more  contri- 
bute to  improve  the  Head,  than  to  mead  the 
Heart  of  every  thinking  Reader. 


ERRATA. 


P.  41,  Note,  for  In  the  frft,  read  Ifrjt.    P.  50, 1  1 3,   add 
te.    P.  54,  1.  3,  dele  not.    P.  56, 1.  8,  for  p*tis9  read  p&nis 


AN 


[9] 


A    N  - 


ENQUIRY 


INTO    THE 


"   L  EARNING 

O   F 

SHAKESPEARE,  dec. 

EUGE  NIU8  and  Neander  are  two  Friends 
no  lefs  endeared  to  each  other  by  mutual 
Offices  of  Kindnefs,    than  by  an  equal  In- 
clination for  Learning,   and  Studies   of  a 
politer  Tafte.     The  latter  lives  chiefly  in  the  Coun-. 
try,  but  always  fpends  fome  Months  of  the  Winter 
in  Town,    the  better  to  diverfify  the  Scene,  and 
enjoy  more  agreeably  the  Company  of  Eugenius. 
Upon  corning  to  his  ufual  Refidence  in  London, 
he  haftened  the  next  Morning  to  the  Lodgings 
.of  his  Friend :  He  found  him  at  Breakfalt  in  his 
Chamber,    with  his  common  Entertainment  of  a 
Book  before  him.     As  foon  as  the  fir  ft  Salutations 
were  over,    Neander  began  to  enquire  about  the 
State  of  Letters,    and  what  new  Performance  he 
Was  fo  deeply  intent  upon.     It  is  a  Writer,  replied 
B  Eugenius 


we  are  neither  of  us  unacquainted  witlv 
yet  I  feldom  take  him  into  my  Hand,  but  I  always 
meet  with  fomething  new.  From  the  Character 
you  give  me,  returned  Neander,  I  mould  do  an 
Injury  to  the  fupreme  Genius,  if  I  did  not  imme- 
diately conclude  it  to  be  a  Volume  of  Shakefpeare. 
This  Author  was  their  common  Favourite  •,  of 
whom  Neander  frequently  would  fay,  that  he 
thought  him  not  more  the  Boaft  of  his  Country 
in  particular,  than  the  Glory  of  human  Nature  hi 
general.  Eugenius  was  going  to  make  Anfwer, 
when  the  other  interpofed  with  obferving,  that 
he  imagined  the  Merit  of  Shakefpeare  to  be  now 
indifputably  owned  :  And  the  Fondnefs  of  the 
Public  for  him  he  thought  was  pretty  evident,, 
from  the  various  Editions  which  have  been  lately 
publifhed,  and  the  frequent  Reprefentations  of  his 
Plays  upon  the  Stage.  Do  you  fuppofe  then,  faid 
Eugenius^  that  the  Nation  was  ever  prejudiced 
againft  Shakefpeare^  or  had  not  a  proper  Relifh 
of  his  Merit  ?  That  is  my  Sentiment,  replied 
Neander ;  for  it  feems,  methinks,  to  have  hap- 
pened to  fome  great  Authors,  as  to  certain  Notions 
and  Opinions  in  Philofophy  :  They  have  been  en- 
tertained at  their  firft  Appearance  in  the  World, 
with  a  candid  and  honourable  Reception,  but 
through  the  popular  Caprice  they  would  ibon  have 
fallen  into  Darknefs  and  Oblivion;  if  Men  of 
Learning  had  not  arofe  to  recover  their  Character, 
and  fixed  them  in  univerfal  Credit  and  Reputation. 
And  this  is  eafily  accounted  for'  by  the  Decline 
or  Perverfion  of  Scnfe  and  Tafte  in  one  Age,  and 
its  Revival  Perfection  and  Improvement  in  another. 
Such,  in  my  Apprehenfion,  has  been  the  Fate  of 
Shakefpeare^  with  Regard  to  his  feveral  Contem- 
poraries,, and  his  Rivals  in  Fame  and  Poetry.  The 


r  n  ] 

Age  wherein  he  lived  hardly  allowed  him 
£qual,  never  a  Superior  ;  but  that  which  imme- 
•diately  fucceeded  began  to  prefer  others  to  him 
in  its  Efteem,  and  let  Ben.  Jabnfon  and  Beaumont 
.and  Fletcher  far  above  him  •,  fo  that  in  Mr.  Dryden's 
Time  the  Flays  of  thefe  laft  became  the  molt 
frequent  Entertainments  of  the  Stage;  two  of  them 
being  ufually  acted  throughout  the  Year,  to  one 
of  Shakefpeari 's  or  Johnfcn's.  The-'Reafon  of  that 
PrepofTeffion,  returned  Eugenius^  is  not  difficult 
to  find  ;  for  the  Court,  which  in  thefe  Cafes,  com- 
monly gives  the  Law,  was  funk  in  Indolence 
and  Pleafure.  The  Morality  of  Shakefpeare  ap- 
peared with  too  fevere  a  Countenance  ;  the  Form 
was  too  folemn  and  gloomy  for  the  Gaiety  of 
Men  of  Wit,  and  was  a  Kind  of  Reproof  to  the 
Irregularity  of  their  own  Conduct.  The  Convex 
fation  of  Gentlemen,  the  Genteelnefs  of  their 
Behaviour  and  Difcourfe,  and  the  Extravagance 
of  their  Gallantries  were  much  better  painted  by 
Fletcher^  than  by  any  other  Poet  who  wrote  be- 
fore him.  The  tender  and  more  pleafing  Pafr 
fions  were  defcribed  in  a  natural  and  lively  Man- 
ner i  and  a  certain  Eafmefs  and  Pleafantry  reign- 
ing through  the  whole,  confpired  to  recommend 
him  to  the  general  Applaufe.  However,  as  you 
intimated,  the  Judgment  and  Inclination  of  the 
prefent  Age  declare  univerfally  for  Sbakefpeare : 
And  this  feems  to  proceed  from  the  Labours  of 
his  feveral  Editors  ;  and  from  that  inimitable  Pro- 
priety with  which  his  chief  Characters  are  repre- 
fented  by  an  incomparable  Actor,  whofe  excellent 
Exprefiion  is  an  admirable  Comment  upon  the 
jPlavs  of  our  Author. 

B  2  The 


[    12    ] 

The  Glory  of  the  Englijh  Drama,    continued 
us^    appears   to    have   been   carried   to  its 
laft  Perfe&ion    by    this    triumvirate    of   Bards, 
You  will  pardon  me,    I  hope,    the  Ufe  of  this 
Metaphor,    as  I  confider   Beaumont  and  Fletcber 
but  as  one  Writer.     What  have  we  that  exceeds 
their    eafy   and    graceful  Manner,    and   Spright- 
linefs  of  Dialogue  ?    Or  does  any  thing  furpafs 
the   Humour,     Correctnefs,     and   Regularity   of 
of  Jobnfcn  ?   What  can  we  conceive  more  ado- 
flifrring  than  the  Genius  and  Imagination  of  Sbake- 
ffeare  ?   Or  can  we  find  him  wanting  in  a  fmgle 
Article  which  is  neceffary  to  compleat  the  Cha- 
racter of  a  Dramatic  Poet  ?     You  feem,  Eugtniusy 
interrupted  Neander,   to  forget  the  Charge  which 
hath  been  long  brought  againft  him,    and  your 
Affection  for  his  Memory  will  not  give  you  Leave; 
to  confider  his  Deficiency   in   a  Point  which  is 
efteemed  very  material,   and  accounted  a  Quali^ 
fication  eflentially  belonging  to  a  Dramatick  Wrir 
ter :  I  mean  that  Want  of  Reading  which  he  con- 
ftantly  betrays,  and  a  total  Ignorance  of  the  learned 
Languages.     This,    perhaps,    returned   Eugenius^ 
might  pofTibly  proceed  from  his  Concealment  of 
that  Excellence,   rather  than  from  any  real  Want 
of  it.     Yet  I  know  it  hath  been  mifinterpreted 
into  a  Crime,   and  hath  been  conftantly  oppofed 
to  that  Luxuriance  of  fancy   fo  evident  in  the 
Works  of  $bakefpeare ;  and  to  that  extenfive  Comr 
mand  of  Nature,  whom  he  alone,  of  all  Mankind, 
leems  to  hare  had  entirely  in  his  own  Power. 
The  common  Accufation  hath  been,    as  you  fay, 
that  he  wanted  Learning:  Confining,  I  prefume, 
the  Meaning  of  that  Word  to  an  Acquaintance 
and  Intimacy  with  the  dead  Languages  •,    yet  this 
is  in  Effeft  but  a  greater  Commendation.    Jobnfon^ 


{  13  ] 

however*   it  muft  be  owned,   did  not  think  fo; 
not  being  To  naturally  learned*   he  was   willing 
to  derive  the  greateft  Honour  from  his  acquired 
Riches,  and  the  Spoils  which  he  had  obtained  from 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Authors  :   And  this  was  good 
Policy  in  him,  who,  if  he  wanted  not  Imagination, 
was  never  yet  reckoned  to  have  much  to  fpare. 
He  pbced  his  chief  Perfection  in  this  Article,   the 
Faftuon  of  the  Times  concurring  tfr  approve  it  > 
and  what  by  this  Means  he  detracted  from  the 
Sum  of  Shakejpearis  Merit,  was  added  to  increafe 
his  own  :    For  by  induftrioufly  fupporting  this 
Opinion,  he  intended  to  fecure  the  Palm   to  him- 
felf.    I  am  rather,   interpofed  Neander^  inclined  to 
believe,  that  the  Partizans  of  the  two  Poets  began 
the  Oppofition :    For  confidering  the  honourable 
Teftimony  which  Johnfon  hath  left  of  his  beloved 
Sbakefpeare^  and  the  Favours  he  had  received  from 
him,  I  can  hardly  believe  he  would  be  guilty  of 
that  Ingratitude  to  diminim  the  Reputation  of  his 
Benefactor.    However  the  Competition  began,  it 
certainly  divided  the  Critics  of  that  Age  •,  and  I 
think  that  Jobnfon  him  felf  hints  at  it  in  this  PafTage 
from  one  of  his  own  Plays ;  "  She  may  cenfurc 
"  Poets,  and  Authors,  and  Stiles,  and  compare 
"  'em,  Daniel  with    Spenfer,   Jobnfon  with   the 
"  other  Youth,  and  fo  forth*."     But  I  have  often 
wondered  why  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  were  never 
made  Parties  in  this  Difpute :  For  we  may  per- 
ceive as  little  an  Appearance  of  Familiarity  with 
the  daffies  in  their  Plays,  as  in  thofc  of  Sbakef- 

peare. 

*  Siknt  Woman*  Atl  II.  St.  2;  If  this  Expreffion  is  not 
thought  applicable  to  Shakefpeare,  he  may  probably  mean 
Pecker,  between  whom  and  Jvhnfen  there  was  a  perfbual 

Difference; 


[  Hi 

peare.-\  As  they  were  Gentlemen  of  good  Fa* 
milies,  their  Learning  perhaps  was  preliimed  to 
be  inherent  in  the  Blood,  or  to  defcend  to  them 
by  Inheritance.  So  obliging  a  Prefumption,  inter- 
rupted Eugenius,  fmiling,  would  be  of  infinite 
Service  to  many  younger  Brothers  of  this  Age, 
who  are  frequently  complimented  by  the  Courtefy 
of  England  with  fome  other  Qualities,  to  which 
they  have  as  (lender  a  Right.  And  yet  you  cannot 
but  have  obferved,  that  in  every  Conteft  of  this 
kind,  our  Author  never  wanted  Advocates  to 
maintain  his  Caufe.  Mr.  Hales  aflerted  in  his  Fa- 
vour, that  there  was  no  Subject  which  any  antient 
Poet  had  ever  treated,  but  he  would  engage  to 
fhew  it  as  well  wrote  by  Sbakefpeare. 

If  you  were  at  Leifure,  I  could  point  out  fome  pa- 
rallel Pafiages  tending  to  confirm  this  Aflertion  j 
and  I  would  make  a  previous  Enquiry  into  the  fevc- 
ral  Sources  from  which  the  Poet  drew. Materials  to 
adorn  his  Plays.  But  fuch  a  Difquifition,  conti- 
nued EugeniuS)  would,  I  fear,  demand  more  time 
than  you  can  probably  allow  me ;  for  undoubtedly 
you  have  many  Compliments  and  Services  from 
the  Country  to  deliver,  which  the  Ceremony  of 
the  Town  muft  be  obliged  with  at  your  firft  Ar- 
rival. What  little  Matters  of  that  Kind,  replied 
Neander>  I  have  to  do,  are  difpatching  by  a  Ser- 
vant •,  and  I  have  dealt  out  my  Cards,  I  hope,  with 
fo  much  Art,  as  to  fecure  me  your  Company,  if 

•f  Fletcher  might  have  properly  been  joined  with  Shakef- 
jeare,  for  never  blotting  out  a  Line,  which  we  are  informed 
of  by  good  Authority.  "  Whatever  I  have  feen  of  Mr. 
"  Fletcher's  own  Hand,  is  free  from  Interlining ;  and  his  Friends 
"  affirm  he  never  writ  any  one  Thing  twice. "  Mofcffs  Pref.  to 
Edit.  1647. 


[  '5] 

difengaged  for  the  reft  of  the  Day.  I  have  na 
particular  Appointment,  returned  Engenius,  to 
call  me  out,  and,  with  your  Leave,  we  may  em- 
ploy the  reft  of  the  Morning  in  our  prefent  Con- 
veriation.  Neander  acknowledging  his  Inclina- 
tion, Eugenius  proceeded  in  the  following  Man- 
ner. 

Sbakejpeare  has  been  defervedly  efteemed  the 
Homer,  the  Father  of  our  Dramatic  Poetry,  as 
being  the  moft  irrefiftible  Mafter  of  the  Paf- 
fions ;  poffeffed  of  the  fame  creative  Power  of 
Imagination ;  abounding  with  a  vaft  AfTemblage  of 
Ideas,  and  a  rich  Redundancy  of  Genius  and  In- 
vention. And  I  think,  added  Neander ',  that  he  may 
be  confidered  to  deferve  that  Title  in  another 
Light,  as  having,  like  him,  furnifhed  many  Poets 
and  Tragedians  of  fucceding  Times  with  the  no- 
bleft  Images  and  Thoughts. 


-Cujufque  ex  ore  profufos 


Omnis  pofteritas  latiees  in  Carmina  duxit, 
Amnemque  in  tenues  aufa  eft  deducere  rivos, 
Unius  fcscunda  bonis.  MANIL.' 

However,  with  all  thefe  Superiorities,  and  with 
a  Dignity  equal  to  the  divineft  of  the  Ancients,  he 
had  the  Fortune  to  refemble  them  in  the  leaft  de- 
firable  Part  of  their  Circumftances  •,  as  he  met 
with  the  Fatality,  peculiar  almoft  to  diftinguimed. 
Writers,  of  being  tranfmitted  to  Pofterity  full  of 
Errors  and  Corruptions.  It  would  appear  almoft 
incredible,  that  the  Writings  of  an  Author  of  fo 
late  a  Date,  mould  be  thus  extremely  faulty  and 
incorrect  •,  and  that  his  Works,  like  the  Province 
of  Africa  to  the  ancient  Romans,  mould  yield  his 

Com- 


[  16  ] 

Commentators  fuch  a  continual  Harveft  of  Victory 
and  Triumphs  ;  but  it  happens  at  the  fame  time, 
to  prevent  all  Surprize,  that  we  are  not  only  af- 
fured  of  the  Fact,  but  in  fome  meafure  likewife 
both  of  the  Caufe  and  Manner  of  it.  This  then  be- 
ing the  Cafe,  returntdEugenitts,  can  it  be  any  longer 
a  Wonder  why  certain  Adventurers  in  Criticilm 
have  fo  ardent  an  Efteem  for  Shakefpeare,  when  he 
gives  them  the  moil  delightful  Opportunity  of 
trying  their  Skill  upon  his  Plays,  and  of  indulg- 
ing a  Difpofition  for  GuefTes  and  Conjecture,  the 
darling  Paflion  of  our  modern  Critics.  Befides  the 
Correctnefs  of  the  Text,  which  is  equally  necef- 
fary  to  the  right  underflanding  him  in  common 
with  all  other  Authors  -9  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  confider  a  few  Particulars,  which  may  pofiibly 
explain  the  Singularity  of  fome  Places,  and  give 
us  a  little  Infight  into  the  Learning  of  Shakefpeare. 

To  begin  with  his  Plots,  the  Ground-work  and 
Bafis  of  the  whole  :  Thefe  are  ufually  taken  from 
fome  Hiftory  or  Novel  •,  he  follows  the  Thread  of 
the  Story  as  it  lies  before  him,  and  feldom  makes 
any  Addition  or  Improvement  to  the  Incidents 
arifmg  from  it :  He  copies  the  old  Chronicles  al- 
moil:  verbatim^  and  gives  a  faithful  Relation  of 
the  feveral  Characters  they  have  left  us  of  our 
Kings  and  Princes.  It  is  needlds  to  remark,  how 
erroneous  this  mufl  render  the  Plan  of  his  Drama, 
and  what  Violation  it  rnuft  neceflarily  offer  to  the 
Unities,  as  prefcribed  by  Ariftotle.  Yet  it  does 
not  in  the  leaft  abate  my  Veneration  for  our  Poet, 
that  the  French  Connoiffeurs  have  fixed  on  him 
the  Imputation  of  Ignorance  and  Barbarifm.  It 
would  agree,  I  believe,  as  little  with  their  Tem- 
pers to  be  freed  from  a  fovereign  Authority  in 

the 


E  '7  ] 

the  Empire  of  Wit  and  Letters,  as  in  their 
civil  Government.  An  abfolute  Monarch  muft 
prefide  over  Affairs  of  Science,  as  well  as  over 
thofe  of  the  Cabinet  ;  and  it  is  pleafant  enough 
to  obferve  what  Pain  they  are  put  to,  upon 
the  leaft  Appearance  of  offending  againft  the 
Laws  of  the  Stagyrite.  But  notwithstanding 
the  Imperfedlion,  and  even  the  Abfurdity  of  the 
Plots  of  Shakefpeare,  he  continues  unrivaled  fqr 
his  maflerly  Exprefiion  of  the  Characters  and 
Manners ;  and  the  proper  Execution**of  thefe 
is  undoubtedly  more  ufeful,  and  perhaps  more 
conducive  to  the  Ends  of  Tragedy,  than  the 
Defign  and  Conduct"  of  the  Plot.  A  great 
Part  of  this  unjuftifiable  Wildnels  of  the  Fable, 
muft  be  placed  to  the  Tafte  and  Humour  of 
the  Times ;  the  People  had  been  ufed  to  the 
Marvellous .  and  Surprizing  in  all  their  Shews 
and  Sports ;  they  had  feen  different  Kingdoms, 
in  different  Quarters  of  the  World,  engaged  in 
the  fame  Scene  of  Bufmefs,  and  could  not  be 
haftily  confined  from  fo  unlimited  a  Latitude 
tp  a  narrower  Compafs*  I  allow  their  Ap- 
petites to  have  been  much  depraved  •,  yet  pro- 
bably fome  kind  of  Regimen,  not  very  differ- 
ent from  what  they  were  before  accuftomed  to, 
was  the  propereft  Method  to  bring  them  to  a 
better.  Neverthelefs,  were  we  to  make  a  Dif- 
fe&ion  of  his  .Plays,  we  fhould  difcov^r  more 
Art  and  Judgment  than  we  are  commonly 
aware  of,  both  in  the  Contraft  and  Confiftency 
of  his  principal  Characters,  and  in  the  different 
Under-parts,  which  are  all  made  fubfervient 
towards  carrying  on  the  main  Defign  -,  and  we, 
fhould  obferve,  that  ftill  there  was'  a  Simpli- 
city of  Manner,  which  Nature  only  can  give, 
C  and 


as  wonderful  a  Diverfity.     Homer  is  ad- 
liiired  for  that  Perfection  of  Beauty  which  re- 
prefents  Men  as  they  are  affe&ed  in  Life,  and 
thews  us  in  the  Perlbns  of  others,  the  Oppo- 
fitio'ns  of  Inclination,   and  the  Struggles  be- 
tween the  Paffions  of  Self-love,  and  thofe  of 
ffb'ridur  arid  VirttieT  which  we  often  feel  in  our 
own  Breafts  *.     This  is  that  Excellence  for 
which  he  is  deferred ly  admired,  as  much  as 
for  the  Variety  of  his  Characters.     May  we  not 
'apply  this  Remark  with  an  equal  Propriety  to 
Shakefpeare,  in  whom  We  find  as  furpri-zing  a 
Difference,,  and  as  natural  and  diftin&  a  Pre- 
fervation  of  his  Characters  ?    And  is  not  this 
agreeable  Dilplay  of  Genius^  interpofed  Nenrt- 
"der,  infinitely  preferable  to  that  ftudied  ^Regu- 
larity and  lifelefs  'Drawing  praftifed  'by   our 
latter  Poets  ?  in  whom  we  meet  with  either  a 
'conftant  Refeniiblance,   or  Antithefis  both  of 
'Sceries  and  Perfbns  ;  the  'natural  Refult  of  -a 
confined  Uhd  fcanty  Imagination  !  I  am  tempt- 
ed to  compare  fuch  Performances  to  that  per- 
petual Samenefs  Or  Repetition  which  prevails 
in  our  modern  Tafte  of  Gardens :  Where, 


Grove  nods  at  Grove ,  each  Ally  has  a 
Andbalftbe  Wat-form  jvtft'rtflefts  the  other  f. 

Yet  I  believe,  however  earneftly  we  cdtit^nd  for 
Nature,  that  we.  are  neither  of  *ns  inclined  to 
exclude  the  Direction  of  Art  from  intefpdfing 
in!  the  Drama  :  It  give's  a'heightni'ng  and  'Relief 
to  Nature*  and  .at  the  fame  time  curbs  the  ex- 
travagance -of  Fancy,  and  circumfcribes  -it 

*  -fiee  ftutcbffGifs  Inquiry,  &C.  P.  41. 

f.1-Mr.  Pojfit  Epiftlcs  to  Lord'5«r//^";;,  V.  115- 

withia. 


.within  proper  Bounds.  All  I  would  eftablifh 
•by  this  Remark,  is  the  Opinion  of  Longinus, 
preferring  a  Competition  with  fome  Faults  of 
this  kind,  which  is  wrote  with  Genius  and  Su,b- 
limity,  to  one  of  greater  Regularity  and  Cor- 
rectnefs,  that  is  not  animated  with  equal  Life 
and  Spirit.  The  Bufinefs  and  Defign  of  Art, 
returned  Eiigenius^  is  undoubtedly  to  polifti 
$nd  improve  the  Beauties  of  Nature  \  and  jn 
fome  Cafes,  perhaps,  it  may  be  a  more  illuftri- 
ous  Mark  of  Skill,  not  to  weaken  and  deftroy  a 
natural  Grace,  than  to  introduce  an  artificial  one. 
Rujes  may  probably  affift  and  fet  off  a  Ge- 
nius, tho*  they  can  never  give  Perfection 
where  that  is  wanting  :  But  we  feem,  Neander* 
to  juftify  our  Principles  by  our  Practice.  Jt 
4s  reasonable  we  fliould  now  return  to  qijr 
Subject,  from  which  we  have  been  long  wan- 
dering, as  I  have  fomething  to  obferve  which 
hath  a  natural  Connection  'with  the  Point  we 

are  difcufling. 

*. 

You  rnuft  have  remarked,  I  think,  that 
the  Poet  himfelf  was  fenfible  of  the  Im- 
perfections <pf  his  Plojts,  and  of  the  Folly 
of  the  Multitude  which  he  was  obliged  to 
comply  with  againft  his  Knowledge  ;  fgr 
he  attempts  in  ijiany  PJaces  -to  apologize  for 
his  Weaknefs,  and  reflects  feverely  upon  tfie 
Judgment  of  his  Audience.*  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
fometime  before  him  had  cpndemned  the  Ig- 
norance and  Faults  of  many  Poets,  ancj  their 
notorious  Violations  of  the  Unities,  in  the  De- 

*  Particularly  in  the  Prologue,  and  Chorufles  of  Henry 
the  jth,  and  in  {he  Prologue  to  Henry  the  8th. 

C   2 


[    20] 

figH  and  Management  of  their  Fable.  As  I 
have  the  Book  at  hand,  you  will  permit  me 
to  read  the  Paflage.  "  You  fhall  have  Afia^ 
"  fays  he,  of  the  one  Side,  and  Afric  of  the 
<c  other ;  and  fo  many  other  under  King- 
<c  doms,  that  the  Player,  when  he  comes  in, 
<c  muft 'ever  begin  with  telling  you  where  he 
"  is,  or  elfe  the  Tale  will  not  be  conceived. 
"  Now  you  lhall  have  three  Ladies  walk  tp 
"  gather  Flowers,  and  then  we  muft  believe 
"  the  Stage  to  be  a'  Garden.  By-and-by  we 
"  hear  News  of  a  Ship-wreck  in  the  fame 
"  Place,  then  we "  are  to  blame  if  we  accept 
"  it  not  for'  a  Rock.-— Now  of  Time  they 
•~c  are  much  more 7  liberal  j  for  ordinary  it  is, 
cc  that  two  'young  Princes  fall  in  Love  ; 
"  after  many  Traverfes '  fhe  is  got  with  Child, 
"  delivered  of  a  fair  Boy,  he  is  loft,  groweth 
*6  a  Man,  falleth  in  Love,  and  is  ready  to  get 
"  another  Child;  and  all  this  in  two  Hours 
"  fpace,  which  how  abfurd  it  is  in  Senfe,  even 
"  Senfe  may  imagine."*  If  I  might  fuppofe, 
added  JZugenitis,  that  Sir  Philip ',  in:  this  Cri- 
ticifm,  alluded  to  any  particular  Perform- 
ance, it  is  pfobable  that  he  hints  at  Pericles, 
Prince  of  tyre,  which  abounds  with  many 
fuch  palpable  Abfurdities  5 '  and  "is  in  the 
Number  of  thofe  fpurious  Pieces,  which  are 
attributed  to  Sbakefyearp':  If  this  Conjedure 
be  admitted,  it  may  be  confidered  likewife  as 
a  Proof  of  that  Play's  being  none  of  his  -,  but 
as  I  lay  no  great  Strefs  upon  the  Thought,  I 
mall  not  claim  your  Thanks  for  the  Difco- 
very. 

*  Defence  ofPoefj,  /,  43.  3^  VcL  of  bis  Works. 

The 


[21    ] 

The  next  Inftance  of  the  Poet's  Underftand- 
ing  and  Art,  is  in  forming  the  Characters  and 
Manners.  In  this  Field  Sbakefpeare  is  con- 
fefledly  invincible  ;  for  it  is  not  eafy  to  frame 
any  Idea  of  a  more  comprehenfive  Mind,  or 
of  an  exacter  Knowledge  of  the  World,  than 
what  he  difplays  upon  this  Head.  It  is  his 
fingular  Excellence  to  mark  every  Character  in 
the  ftrongeft  manner,  with  Sentiments  peculi- 
arly cofrefporident,  and  to  maintain  the  Pro- 
priety of  each  in  every  Circumllance  of  Action. 
Even  thofe  which  appear  to  be  the  moft  uni- 
form, and  of  the  fame  Complexion,  will  be 
found,  upon  a  nearer  View,  to  be  totally  and 
formally  different.  '  The  Diverfity  of  thefe  is 
as  great  as  that  of  his  Comparifons  and  Simi- 
lies  •,  for  in  fliort  'he  has  no  two  alike  •,  they 
are  as  diftihct  from  each  other,  as  one  Man  is 
from  a  fec6nd  in  real  Life.  The  Diction  alfo 
is  proportionably  varied,  and  adapted  to  the 
Rank  and  Circumftances  of  the  Speaker.  He 
every  where  difcovers  a  perfect  Intimacy  with 
the  antient  poetic  Story,  which  he  always  in- 
troduceth  by  the  jufteft  Application.  Nor 
"does  he  appear  lefs  knowing  in  Philofophy, 
Hiftory,  Mechanics,  and  many  other  Branches 
:of  abftf'ufer  Learning.  He  feems,  indeed^  in- 
terrupted Neander  with  a  Smile,  to  be  ac- 
quainted with  the  feveral  Kinds  of  Science  to 
lo  great  a  Degree,  that  were  all  Arts  to  be  loft, 
they  might  be  recovered  With  as  little  Difficulty 
from  the  Plays  of  Sbakefpeare,  as  from  the 
Iliad  of  Homer,  or  the  Gsorgics  of  VirgiL 

Your  mentioning  thefe  antient  Authors,  re- 
plied Ettgenius,  reminds  me  of  the  Refem- 

blancc 


C  w  ] 

glance  which  there   is  between  the   Playsr  of 
Shakefpeare^  and  the  Comedians  and  Satyrifts 
of  Antiquity  -,  as  I  apprehend  the  Difficulty  of 
tmderftanding  both,  commonly  proceeds  from 
the  fame  Caufes :  An  Allufion  familiar  enough 
to  every  Body  at  the  time  of  writing,  may  be 
irretrieveably  loft  \    and  what  Perplexity  this 
mud  necefiarily  occafion,  is  extremely  obvious. 
I  am  apt  to  imagine  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
concealed  Satire  in  the  Plays  of  our  Author, 
and  frequently   in  thofe  Places  where  we  leaft 
expect  it.      For   it   is   evident,  I  think,    that 
many  Reflections  of  this  kind,  on  the  marvel- 
lous Performances  of  the  Writers  of  that  Age, 
and  on  the    Humours    and   Opinions  of   the 
Times,   are  interfperfed   in  Numbers    of  his 
Scenes.     And  as  thefe  have  commonly  littk 
or  no  Connection  with  the  Plot  and  Incidents, 
they  receive  their  chief  Grace  and  Beauty  from 
the  Characters  who  fpeak,  or  the  Application 
they  are  put  to.     Hence  is  it  that  we  often  find 
his  Clowns  or  Fools  repeating  Paflages  from 
Plays  well  known  to  the  Audience  of  that  Age, 
with  a  View  to  ridicule  and  expoie  them.     And 
thus,  as  it  were  by  a  kind  of  Tranfmutation, 
what  was  originally  Folly  and  Stupidity,  be- 
comes Wit  and  Humour  by   the  Parody  of 
Sbakeffeare. 

This  laft  Remark  which  you  have  made, 
returned  Neander,  confirms  a  Notion  which 
I  have  long  entertained  of  Btn  Jobnfon^  whom 
I  conceive  to  be  far  the  moil  obfcure  of  #ny 
of  our  Dramatic  Poets  -,  and  I  dare  fay  you 
will  hearrtily  join  with  me  in  a  Wifti  I  have 
frequently  made,  that  feme  Gentleman  of 

Learning 


C  23  ] 

Learning  would  oblige  the  Public  with  a  cor- 
rect Edition  of  his  Works,  attended  with  ex- 
planatory Notes  in  their  proper  Places.    Abun- 
dance of  Allufidns  occur  in  his  Writings,  both 
to  the  Cuftorns  of  his  own  Age,  and  to  thoie 
of  Antiquity  -,  which  being  often  very  remote, 
darken  the  Sentiments   to  fo  great  a  degree, 
that  we  have  as  much  Perplexity  almolt  in 
leading  him,  as  we  meet  with  in  drift  opha- 
ties  or  -P-lauws.    Terence  I  am  fare  is  infinitely 
eafier,  tho'   a  Man  would  -not  expect  to  fee 
greater  Difficulties  in  an  Author   of  his  own 
Couifcry,  Who  died  but  a  Century  ago,  than 
in  another  who  wrote  in  a  foreign  Language, 
and  hath  been  dead  near  twenty  t-imss  as  lorng. 
Thefe  Difficulties,  replied  Eugtniut,  are  owing 
•in -a  great  Meafure  to  his  Learning  :  He  form- 
ed himfelf  upon  the  antient  Models,  and  hath 
Copied  as   well  their  Manner  as   Expreflion. 
We  have  not,  I  confefs,  an  Shakejpvart,  fuch 
direct  and  vifible  Traces  of  Antiquity  ;  and 
for  the  fame  Reafon  we  are  free  from  that  Ob- 
icuirity,  which  this  extravagant  Afte&ation  'hath 
•created  in  the  other. 

We  have  feen,  Neander?  he  continued,  what 
Methods  were  taken  by  the  ;Poet  to  be  ijvere 
x>pon  his  Adverfaries,  or  to  kfh  the  prevailing 
Follies  with  -an  honeft  Indignation.  And  We 
may  further  obferve  that  he  m'ade  ufe  of  the 
fame  Ocoafions  to  pay  a  Compliment,  -or  to 
ingratiate  himfelf  with  more  addrds  in  the'Ba- 
vour  of  his  Friends  and  Patrons.  It  is  eafy  to 
>perceive  with  what  a  religious  'Veneration  he 
conftantly  fpeaks  of  the  -Majs'fty  of  Kings  \ 
and  to  what  Height  he  advanceth  their  Pre- 
rogative 


-...I    24] 

.  rogati ve  and  Power.  This,  I  fuppofe,  was  Ifa 
fome  Meafure  the  Effect  of  Complaifance,  to 
inculcate  on  the  People  thofe  high  ftrained 
Notions  of  the  regal  Dignity  in  which  King 
'James  I.  had  been  educated,  and  which  he 
endeavoured  to  perfuade  others  into  a  Belief 
of  by  his  own  Writings.  I  {hall  inftance  in 
two  PaiTages  from  Shakefpeare^  which  may 
ferve  to  confirm  the  Hint  which  I  have  made  j 
the  firft  of  them  is  to.be  found  in  his  Play  of 
Richard  II.  and  runs  thus  :- 

Not  all  the  Water  in  the  rough  rude  Sea 
Can  wa/h  the  Balm  from  an  anointed  King : 
'The  Breath  of  worldly  Men  cannot  depofe 
\    *£he  Deputy  elefted  by  the  Lord. 

AdIII.Sc.  2.' 

The  Second  which  is  full  to  the  fame  Pur- 
pofe  occurs  in  Hamlet, 


Do  not  fear  our  P  erf  on  : 


There's  fuck  DIVINITY  doth  hedge  a  King, 
tfhat  Treafon  can  but  peep  to  what  it  would?, 
Acls  little  of  its  Will   '  Ad  IV.  Sc.  6. 

If  we  look  into  other  Potts  of  the  fame 
Age,  we  mall  find  the  like  Sentiments  deli- 
vered in  an  equal  Strain  ;  and  the  following 
PaiTage  will  evince  that  Beaumont  and  Fletcher 
did  not  come  much  fhort  of  him  in  idolizing 
kingly  Power : 

King.     Draw  not  thy  Sword*   thou  know'Jl  I 

cannot  fear 
A  Subjetts  Hand. 

Aminton 


Amintor.     • There  is 

DIVINITY  dboutyou*  that  ftrikes  dead 
My  rifing  Paffions. 

Maid's  Trag,  Aft.  IIL 

This  Proceeding  however  of  our  Poet, 
returned  Neander,  is  more  eafily  excufable  in 
him,  if  we  confider  how  great  a  Mark  of 
Efteem  and  Honour  he  received  .from  King 
James  himfelf,  who  is  reported  to  haye  wrote* 
with  his  own  Hand,  an  amicable  Letter  to  Mr. 
Sbakefpeare  -,  which  Letter,  tho*  now  loft,  re- 
mained long  in  the  Pofieffion  of  Sir  William 
D'avenant.  By  attending  to  thefe  Circumftan* 
ces,  and  others  of  the  fame  Kind,  purfued 
Eugenius^  we  may  be  enabled,  perhaps,  to  form 
a  Judgment  at  what  Time  feveral  of  his 
Plays  were  wrote.  The  Date,  indeed,  of 
fome  is  already  determined  by  many  external 
Evidences  ;  and  the  internal  ones  of  others  may 
fnpport  us  in  a  probable  Conjecture  of  the 
Time  of  their  firft  Appearance  on  the  Stage. 

As  it  is  evident  from  what  hath  been  faid, 
that  Sbakefpeare  framed  the  Sentiments  of  his 
Plays  in  Conformity  to  the  Notions  then  in 
vogue,  and  made  his  Kings  and  Counfellors 
fpeak  the  Language  of  the  Court ;  fo  he  drew 
Defcriptions  and  Images  from  the  Entertain- 
ments moft  in  ufe,  and  borrowed  Metaphors 
from  the  Diverfions  practifed  by  Men  of  Birth 
and  Quality.  This  lets  us  into  the  Reafon 
why  we  have  fuch  frequent  mention  of  Hawk- 
ing, Hunting,  Archery,  and  the  like.  Fal- 
cony  in  particular  was  a  favourite  Diverfion 
of  that  Age  •,  and  the  Poet  feems  equally  fond 
P  to 


[  26  J 

to  illuflrate  his  Thoughts  by  Allufions  to  that: 
before  the  reft.  A  PafTage  m>  Othello  is  com- 
-pofed  of  Metaphors,  which  are  all  entirely  fa 
many  Terms  in  Hawking  : 


If  I  prove  her  Haggard, 


The?  tbat  for  Jeffes  were  my  dear  Heart-firing^ 
rd  whifile  her  off,  and  let:  her  down  the  Wind 
To  prey  at  Fortune.  Aft  III.  Sc.  6~ 

He  difcovers  himfelf  in  thefe  Lines  a  perfect 
Mafter  of  the  Sport,  as  indeed  he  always  does 
of  ,eVery  thing  which  he  occasionally  introdu* 
ces  in  a  Play  :  And  every  thing,,  added  Ne- 
ander^  which  he  takes  upon  him  to  defcribe, 
appears  to  receive,  in  my  Judgment,  an  un- 
common Luftre  and  Polifh ;  and  to  be  endued 
with  more  delicate  and  fofter  Traits  of  Beauty, 
than  I  often  find  in  the  Things  themfelves. 
Every  Defcription  is  a  capital  Piece  of  Pain- 
dug  •,  and  fometimes  even  a  fingle  Line  con- 
tains aim  oft  the  Beauties  of  a  whole  Land- 
.fcape.  Thus  you  may  obferve,  refumed  Euge- 
•mus^  that  he  is- equally  excellent  in  his  Imagery 
of  hunting  •,  for  which  I  might  appeal  to  fo 
inimitable  a  Defcriptioa  of  a  Pack  of  Hounds,, 
that  there  is  fcarce  a  Country  'Squire  in  the 
Nation,,  who  hath  heard  of  the  Name  &f  ShakeJ- 
peare,  but  can  repeat  it  entirely  by  Heart, 
The  Place  which  I  refer  to,  is  to  be  found  in- 
die Midfummer  Night's  Dream^  Aft  IV.  Sc.  2V 
aad  we  may  add  to  it  the  following  one  from 
rfndronicus* 

Tamonr 


Taniora.  The  Birds  chaunt  Melody  on  every  Bujk9 
•  The  Snake  lies  rolled  in  the  cb earful  Sun, 
The  green  Leaves  quiver  with  the  cooling  Wind9 
And  make  a  chequered  Shadow  on  the  Ground : 
Under  their  fweet  Shade,  Aaron,  let  us  Jit , 
And  whilft  the  babbling  Echo  mocks  the  Hounds* 
Replying  Jhrilly  to  tbt  well-tun' d  Horns ^ 
As  if  a  double  Hunt  were  beard  at  once, 
JLet  us  fit  down^  and  mark  their  yelling  Jfoife. 

Aft  II.  Sc.  3, 

The  Lines  which  you  have  quoted,   inter- 
pofed  Neander9  are  taken,  I  perceive,  from  a 
Performance  very  unequal  in  itfelf  •,  it  was  de- 
fpifed  by  the  Con  temporaries  of  the  Poet,  and  is 
•conceived  upon  the  Whole,  not  to  have  been 
wrote  by  him.  The  Abfurdity  and  Confufion  of 
the  Plot,  returned  Eugenics,  together  with  the 
Meannefs  of  many  Parts  in  this  Play,  and  the 
Contempt  which  Ben  Jobnfon  openly  exprefied 
of  it,  when  Shakefpeare  was  yet  living,  are  good 
Reafons  to  fuppofe  that  all  of  it  did  not  come 
from  him.     Yet  the  above-mentioned  Verfes, 
which  were  wrote  by  the  mod  lively  Imagi- 
nation, and  others  which  might  be  eafily  pro- 
duced, are,  I  think,  a  fufBcient  Evidence  that 
they  could  ,pofTibly   proceed   from   no  other 
Hand  than  his.     The  Vices  of  the  fwelling  or 
low  Speeches,  are  redeemed  by  the  Virtues 
of  thole  which  are  more  natural  and  fimple : 
It  may  probably  be  his  firft  Performance  in 
the  dramatic  Way,  becaufe  we  are  certain  it 
was  in  Being  when  the  Poet  was  arrived  but 
to  the  25th  Year  of  his  Age.     The  diftinguifh- 
ing  Parts  of  the  Play  are  intirely  defcriptive; 
might,  perhaps,  be  the  ruder  Efiays  of 
D  2  that- 


[28] 

that  amazing  Genius  which  could  pervade  all 
Nature  With  a  Glance,  and  to  whom  nothing 
within  the  Limits  of  this  Univerfe  appeared 
to  be  unknown  :  Or  if  we  allow  it  to  be  only 
fitted  up  for  the  Stage  by  him  with  the  Addi-  ,- 
tion;.  of  tfyefe  PaiTages  ;  I  fancy  it  muft  have 
been  prepared  fometime  at  leaft  before  the 
Death  or  Queen  Elizabeth.  I  found  my  Con-r 
jefture  on  thofe  Lines  of  it,  which  relate  to 
Hunting,  as  I  imagine  that  Incident  might 
have  been  introduced  for  the  following  Rea- 
fon.  We  are  informed,  that  Mr.  Richard  Erf- 
wards,  who,  in  the  Beginning  of  that  Reign, 
was  one  of  the  Gentlemen  of  her  Majefty's 
Chapel,  had  a  Comedy  called  Palamon  and 
Arcite  reprefented  before  her  at  Oxford  •,  in 
which  the  Cry  of  a  Pack  of  Hounds  was  fo 
naturally  imitated,  that  the  Queen  and  Audi- 
ence were  extremely  delighted  with  it.*  This 
Circumilance  might  raifethe  Emulation  of  fuc- 
ceeding  Poets,  mod  of  whom  wrote  only  to 
the  Eyes  and  Ears  •,  and  excite  in  them  a  De- 
fire  to  obtain  the  Favour  of  the  Queen  by  a 
Repetition  or  Improvement  of  the  fame  agree- 
able Artifice.  You  feem,  Eugenius^  returned 
Neander^  to  adjudge  this  Play  to  Shakefpeare, 
and  fuppofe  either  the  Whole,  or  the  PafTages 
inferted,  to  be  his  firft  Compofitions  •,  becaufe 
fuch  florid  and  gay  Defcriptions  are  the  natural 
Refult  of  a  youthful  and  warm  Imagination.  I 
might  obferve  the  fame  in  the  moft  poetical 
and  lively  Parts  of  Romeo  and  Juliet^  which 
was  brought  upon  the  Stage  when  the  Poet 
was  about  33  Years  old.  I  cannot  omit  inti- 
mating, that  the  generality  of  the  Verfes  in 

Athene?  Qxonienf. 


[    29    ] 

Jiius  Andronicus  are  remarkably  eafy  and  flow-' 
ing  ;  and  that  there  are  as  many  Allufions  in 
it  to  the  Cuftoms,  Hiftory,  and  Events  of 
Antiquity,  as  in  any  other  of  his  Plays  what- 
fpever.  Take  it  however,  relumed  Eugenius^ 
for  all  in  all,  I  perceive  no  great  Reafon  why 
we  Ihould  intereft  ourfelves  in  its  Defence  ; 
and  it  may  be  thought  diffidently  honoured 
with  the  little  Share  of  Reputation  ir  poffeffeth, 
from  the  Suppofition  only  of  its  being  wrote 
by  Sbakefpeare.  , 

The  next  Particular  which  demands  your 
Notice,  as  it  was  undoubtedly  defigned  by 
the  Poet,  who  is  followed  in  it  both  by  Johnfon 
and  Fletcher,  is  the  Cenfure  and  Ridicule  he. 
hath  exprefied  on  the  fenfelefs  Cuftom  of 
Duelling.  This  very  much  prevailed  in  thofe 
Days ;  and  was  reduced  to  a  Science,  necef- 
fary  to  be  underftood,  by  all  Gentlemen  of 
Honour,  in  the  Time  of  King  James  I.  There 
is  a  remarkable  Hint  of  it  in  Romeo  and  Juliet, 
which  being  one  of  his  firft  Plays,  it  is  proba- 
ble that  this  Practice  was  then  common,  tho' 
not  fo  notorious  as  it  grew  to  be  afterwards. 
For  thus  Mercutio  ridicules  it  in  his  Character 
of  Tybalt  •,  "  Oh,  he  is  the  couragious  Captain 
"  of  Compliments  ;  he  fights  as  you  fing 
"  Prick-fongs  :  Keeps  Time,  Diftance,  and 
"  Proportion  ;  refts  his  Minum,  one,  two, 
*'  and  the  third  in  your  Bofom.  The  very 
"  Butcher  of  a  Silk  Button,  a  Duellift,  a  Du- 
*  ellift,  &V.J>  And  the  frivolous  Occafion  of 
their  Quarrels  is  defcribed  with  the  fame  fati- 
rical  Humour,  Mercut.  "  Nay,  an  there  were 
*'  two  luch,  we  fhould  have  none  fhortly,  for 


*e  one  would  kill  the  other :  Thou  !  wny  thou 
**  wilt  quarrel  with  a  Man  that  hath  a  Hair 
*'  more,  or  a  Hair  lefs  in  his  Beard  than  thou 
46  haft,  &V."  Ad  III.  Sc.  i.  And  again,  in 
^Timon  of  Athens  he  thus  mews  his  Indignation 
againft  it. 

Tour  Words  have  tookfuch  Pains,  as  if  they  laboured 
*To  bringMan-Jlaughter  int  of  or  m^andfet  quarrelling 
Upon  the  Head  of  Valour,  which  indeed 
Is  Valour  mljbegot^  and  came  into  the  World 
When  Sefls  and  FaSions  were  lut  newly  born. 

Ad  III.  Sc.  6. 

Theie  Lines  are  an  open  Declaration  againft 
the  Humour  of  Duelling  •,  and  a  perfed  Image 
of  the  Times  in  which  ib  barbarous  a  Pradice 
had  its  rife.  I  muft  add  to  thefe  Inftances  one 
more  •,  it  is  exprefiive  of  the  whole  Form  and 
Ceremony  obferved  upon  fuch  Qccafions,  and 
precifely  regulates  the  feveral  Degrees  and 
Meafures  of  a  Quarrel.  It  occurs  in  the  Sixth 
Scene  of  the  laft  Ad  of  As  you  Like  it  \  and 
makes  the  Converfation  between  Jaques  and 
the  Clown.  The  Whole  is  an  admirable  Scene 
of  Humour  and  Satire,  but  the  laft  Speech  is 
more  particularly  diverting.  Clown.  "  O  Sir, 
•*c  we  quarrel  in  print  by  the  Book,  as  you 
•"  have  Books  for  good  Manners.  I  will  name 
'*  you  the  Degrees,  &V,"  And  if  we  look 
into  any  of  Ben  Johnfon's  Comedies,  we  mall 
be  further  convinced  how  prevalent  this  Hu- 
mour was,  from  that  Eagernefs  which  his 
Cullies  difcover  to  be  inftruded  in  the  Art ; 
and  the  Precepts  which  his  Bully-Captains  lay 
down  in  their  Leffons  to  their  Pupils.  This 


is  marked  with  great  Perfpicuity  iri  the  Cha- 
racters of  Stephen^  Matthew,  and  Capt.  Boba- 
dill)  in  Every  Man  in  bis  Humour.  And  it  i& 
Sogtiardo's  Account  of  his  Friend,  Cavalier 
Sbift>  "  That  he  manages  a  Quarrel  the  beft 
**  that  ever  you  faw,  for  Terms  and  Circum- 
"  fiances."*  To  the  fame  Purpofe  Subtle^  in 
the  Alcbemift)  promifes  to  give  Kaftrill  the  moil 
ample  Directions  in  the  Science : 

*•• 

F II  have  you  to  my  Chamber  of  Demon/rations, 
Where  FUJbew you  both  the  Grammar  and  Logic? 
And  Ret  boric  of  Quarrelling :  My  whole  Method 
Drawn  out  in  '•Tables  •,  and  my  Inftrument* 
That  hath  the  fever  al  Scales  upon,'*,  Jhall  make  you 
Able  to  quarrel  at  a  Straw's  Breadth  by  Moon-light. 

Ad  IV.  Sc.  2. 

And  again,  in  Fletcher's  King  and  no.  King* 
the  Ridicule  is  admirably  maintained  in  the 
Character  of  Bejfus  •,  who  being  engaged  to> 
two  Hundred  and  twelve,  protefled  he  could 
not  fight  above  three  Combats  a  Day.  And 
his  Obiervations  upon  the  Form  of  the  Chal- 
lengers are  incomparably  humourous.  "  If, 
"  lays  he,  they  would  find  me  Challenges  thus 
cc  thick>  as  long  as  I  lived,  I  would  have  no 
**  other  Living :  I  can  make  feven  Shillings  a 
*c  Day  of  the  Paper  to  the  Grocers :  Yet  I 
<-c  learn  nothing  by  all  thele  but  a  little  Skill 
**  in  comparing  of  Stiles.  I  do  find  tvidently, 
*•'  that  there  is  fome  one  Scrivener  in  this 
<£  Town  that  has  a  great  Hand  in  writing  of 
"  Challenges,  for  they  are  all  of  a  Cut,  and 
**  fix  of  them  in  a  Hand ;  and  they  all  end, 

*  £-jerj  Man. out  of  his  Huncw\  Aft  IV.  Sc.  6. 


"  my  Reputation  is  dear  to  me,  and  I  muft 
"  require  Satisfaction."  y&?  III.  If  this  lafl 
Remark,  which  you  have  pointed  out,  inter- 
pofed  Neander^  flood  in  need  of  any  Confirma- 
tion, I  would  beg  Leave  to  corroborate  it  by 
a  Speech  of  my  Lord  Bacon.  I  obferve  you 
have  his  Works  in  your  Collection,  and  I  will 
take  the  Liberty  to  read  you  an  Extract  or  two 
from  it,  as  it  was  made  exprefly  upon  this 
Subject  of  Duelling.  "  I  thought,  'fays  he, 
"  to  lofe  no  Time  in  a  Mifchief  that  groweth 
<c  every  Day  ;  and  befides  it  paffes  not  amifs, 
"  fbmetimes  in  Government,  that  the  greater 
"  Sort  be  admonilhed  by  an  Example  made 
«*  in  the  Meaner,  and  the  Dog  to  be  beaten 
"  before  the  Lyon.  Nay,  I  fliould  think,  my 
«  Lords,  that  Men  of  Birth  and  Quality  will 
«  leave  the  Practice  when  it  begins  to  be  vili- 
«  fied,  and  come  fo  low  as  to  Barber-Surgeons, 
<<  and  Butchers^  and  fuch  bafe  mechanical 

<c  Perfons. This   Offence  exprefly     gives 

<c  the  Law  an  Affront,  as  if  there  were  two 
<c  Laws  -,  one  a  kind  of  Gown  Law.,  and  the 
«c  other  a  Law  of  Reputation^  as  they  term  it* 
«  So  that  Paul's  and  Weflminftery  the  Pulpit 
«  and  the  Courts  of  Juftice,  muft  give  Place 
«<  to  the  Law,  (as  the  King  fpeaketh  in  his 
^  Proclamation)  of  Ordinary  Tables,  and  fuch 
*«  reverend  AfTemblies  :  The  Year-Books  and 
"  Statute-Books  muft  give  Place  to  fome 
««  French  and  Italian  Pamphlets,  which  han- 
«  die  the  Doftrine  of  Duels  ;  which  if  they  be 
«  in  the  Right,  tranfeamus  ad  llla>  let  us  re-» 
"  ceive  them,  and  not  keep  the  People  in 
"  Diftraftion  between  two  Laws*." 

*  Charge  againft  Duels  }n  the  Star  Chamber,  4  Vol.  o£ 
his  Works,  p.  298. 


[33  ] 

I  find,  added  Eugenius,  that  his  Lordfhlp  and 
the  Poet  both  concur  in  affigning  the  fameCauie 
for  fo  unnatural  a  Cuflom.  It  proceeded  from 
the  Inclination  remarkable  in  the  Englijh,  to 
tranfplant  the  Follies  and  Vices  of  thofe  Coun- 
tries they  were  ufed  to  vifit  for  Improvement ; 
and  thefe  coming  always  into  a  kindly  Soil, 
thrived  with  a  wonderful  Increafe.  Italy  was  at 
this  time  the  School  of  Gentility  and  Manners  ; 
and  our  travelled  Sparks  continually  returned 
home  infected  with  ftrange  Cuftoms,  which  met 
with  a  very  quick  Reception  among  the  reft  of 
their  Countrymen.  This  is  intimated  to  us  by 
Shakefpeare  in  feveral  Places,  who  blames  their 
Degeneracy  in  that  refpecl,  and  their  perpetual 
liftening  to 

Report  of  Fajhions  in  proud  Italy  ; 

Wbofe  Manners  ftill  our  tardy  apifo  Nation* 

Limps  after  in  bafe  awkard  Imitation. 

RXCHD.  II.  AclII.  Sc.  I. 

What  Airs  they  commonly  affedted  upon 
finifhing  their  Tours,  we  may  collect  from  the 
Paffage  I  am  now  going  to  mention.  "  Fare- 
<c  well,  Monfieur  Traveller  •,  look  you  liip, 
*s  and  wear  ftrange  Suits  •,  difable  all  the  Be.- 
*c  nefits  of  your  own  Country  •,  be  out  of  love 
<c  wit  by  our  Nativity,  and  almoft  chide  Gcdfor 
4<  making  you  that  Countenance  you  are,  or  I 
"  will  fcarce  think  you  have  fwam  in  a  Gon- 
"  dola  *."  Was  I  difpofed,  replied. Newfar, 
to  refine  upon  this  Quotation,  I  might  venture 
to  affirm,  that  the  Poet  was  particularly  cen- 
that  Libertinifm  of  Opinion  which  his 

*  Jjjeu  like  it,  Ad  IV.  Scene  2. 

E  Country- 


[34] 

Countrymen  contra&ed  of  their  Italian  Peda- 
gogues. The  Thought  is  plainly  atheiftical* 
and  a  kind  of  Libel  againft  Providence ;  ex- 
a&ly  of  the  fame  Stamp  with  thofe  which  Va- 
mni  "expreffes  in  feveral  Places  of  his  Treatife 
de  admirandis  Natur<e\  &c.  I  can  give  you  a 
very  remarkable  Example,  if  my  Memory  does 
not  refufe  me  its  Afllftance.  St.  Paul\  he  fays, 
having  beftowed  on  Marriage  the  Name  of 
a  Sacrament,  and  exhorted  ,Hufbands  to  love 
their  Wives,  as  Chrift  hath  loved  his  Church  ; 
married  Pcrfons,  in  Confequence  of  this  Pre- 
cept, form  too  pure  and  fpiritual  an  Idea  of 
the  Nuptial  Bed.  That  as  they  acquit  themfelves 
of  the  Conjugal  Duties  only  from  a  Principle 
of  Religion,  their  Children  become  heavy  and 
itupid,  and  that  by  Means  of  the  Imagination 
of  their  Parents  •,  in  the  fame  manner  as  we  fee 
Infants  born  with  exterior  Marks,  which  are 
attributed  to  the  Fancy  and  Imagination  of  the 
Mother.  He  laments  it  as  a  Misfortune  that 
he  was  thelfTue  of  lawful  Wedlock ;  fuppofing 
that  his  Father  did  not  beget  him  with  that  Guft 
and  Ardour  which  attends  an  illegitimate  Con- 
currence :  Yet  he  comforts  himfelf,  that  his  Mo- 
ther was  in  the  Bloom  and  Vigour  of  her  Youth 
when  he  was  born,  tho*  his  father  was  feventy 
Years  old.  And  he  imputes  to  thofe  Circum- 
flances  all  the  good  Qualities  both  of  Mind  and 
Body,  which  his  Vanity  fuggefted  he  was  Mafter 
of.  "  Quod  fi  excelfus  mine  mihi  eft  animus 
<c  grata  forma,  corpufque  paucis  obnoxium  in- 
46  firmitatibus,  inde  evenitquod  Pater  meus  etfi 
"  fenex,  blandus  tamen  atque  hilaris  erat ; 
"  ejufque  ob  fenium  frigefcentia  membra  (irri- 

"  dent 


[  35  ] 

"  dent  philofophi  hasc  Chriftianorum  con- 
"  nubia)  adolefcentula  uxor  complexu  fove- 
"  bat.  Quin  imo  moderate  vino  concalefac- 
"  tus,  ad  Veneris  comcediam  peragendam  ie 
*'  accinxit,  amasniiTimo  illo  anni  tempore  quo 
x<  fe  omnes  nature  vires  exerunt  V 

There  is  likewife  another  Folly,  returned 
Eugenius,  proceeding  from  the  fame'  'Source ; 
this  is  the  frequent  ufe  of  many  finical  and 
dainty  Oaths,  which  the  choice  Spirits  of  that 
Age  diftinguifhed  themlelves  by,  as'thofe  of 
the  prefent  by  their  Blafphemy  and  Prophane- 
nefs.  Shake/peare*  I  think,  inlinuates  as  much, 
when  Rofalind  queftions  the  Clown,  who  fwore 
by  his  Honour,  where  lie  learned  that  Oath, 
who  tells  her  of  a  certain  Knight  who  uied  to 
fwear  fo  •,  and  though  he  fwore  falfely,  yet  was 
he  not  forfworn,  Hotfyur  indeed,  more  agree- 
ably to  his  Character,  would  have  his  Lady, 
who  had  protefted  in  good  footh^  to  leave  thole 
Terms,  and  fwear  in  the  true  military  manner, 

-  Sware  me,  Kate,  like  a  Lady  as  tbou  arfy 
A  good  Mouth-filling  Oath. 

Firft  Part  Hen.  IV.  Aft  III.  Sc.  3. 

For  as  a  Soldier,  he  was  equally  full  of  flrange 
Oaths,  and  fudden  and  quick  in  Quarrel.  The 
fame  Humour  is  defcribed  with  great  Life  in  al- 
moft  every  Comedy  of  Ben  John/en's  \  and  it 
is  his  Character  of  one  Perfon,  that  the  Oaths 

*  Dialog,  de  dreams  Nature,    p.   321,    322,   Sc   354, 

E  2  '  which 


[36  J 

which  he  vomits  at  one  Supper,  would  main- 
tain a  Town  of  Garrifon  in  good  fwearing  a 
Twelvemonth. 

To  this  we  may  join  that  other  Privilege  of 
a  Traveller,  twin-born  with  fwearing-,  which  is, 
a  happy  Talent  of  lying  •,  familiar  enough  to 
thole  Men  of  Fire,  who  looked  on  every  one 
graver  than  themfelves,  as  their  Wbetftone, 
This  you  may  remember  is  a  proverbial  Term, 
denoting  an  Excitement  to  lying,  or  a  Subject 
that  gave  a  Man  the  Opportunity  of  breaking 
a  Jeft  upon  another.  And  thus  Shakefyeare 
makes  C#lia  reply  to  Rofalind  upon  the  Entry 
of  the  Clown,  "  Fortune  hath  fent  this  natural 
*c  for  our  Whet  ft  one  ;  for  always  the  Dulnefs 
«  of  the  Fool  is  the  Whetftone  of  the  Wits." 
And  Johnfon  alluding  to  the  fame,  when  he 
draws  the  Character  of  Amorpbusy  fays,  "  He 
f<  will  lie  cheaper  than  any  Beggar,  and 
*£  louder  than  mo  ft  Clocks  -,  for  which  he  is 
*'  right  properly  accommodated  to  the  Whet- 
«  ftone  his  Page." 

I  obferved  in  the  Beginning  of  our  Conver- 
fation,  purfued  Eugenius^  that  many  Paffages 
are  difcovered  in  the  Poet  to  be  defigned  Yrith 
a  double  Intention.  They  are  proper  and  con- 
fident, if  confidered  as  natural  in  the  Charac- 
ter where  they  are  ufed ;  and  have  likewife 
the  Force  of  a  ftrong  and  well  wrote  Satire 
upon  particular  Affairs  or  Perfbns  remarkable 
at  the  time  of  their  Appearance.  Of  this  kind 
is  the  counterfeited  Madnels  of  Edgar  in  the 
Tragedy  of  Lear  -,  whofewild,  grotefque,  and 

incoherent 


I  37] 

incoherent  Sentiments,  are  intirely  fuch  as  we 
fhould  conceive  a  Lunatic  of  that  Turn  would 
utter :  And  they  are  further  defigned  to  ridi- 
cule an  Impofture  difcovered  about  that  time, 
in  which  the  feveral  Fiends  mentioned  by  the 
Poet  were  raifed  up  to  carry  on  the  Cheat. 
And,  perhaps,  the  Character  of  the  Fool  is  not 
altogether  free  from  particularSatire  andReflecti- 
on;  as  where  he  fays,  I  will  fpeak  a  Prophecy  or 
two  before  I  go.  He  may  hint  at  cetltain  Forge- 
ries of  that  kind  which  were  newly  coined  by 
the  Papifts  •,  for  the  Jefuits  of  that  Age  were 
able  Conjurers  and  Seers,  and  had  Oracles  upon 
every  Occafion  ready  cut  and  dry,  tho*  they 
met  with  the  Fate  of  their  Devils,  and  became 
the  Sport  of  the  Populace,  and  Entertainment 
of  the  Stage.  I  have  feen  a  Book  relating  to 
this  Subject,  intitled,  Admirable  and  notable 
Prophecies  uttered  by  twenty -four  Roman  Cat  ho- 
lies,  by  one  James  Maxwell,  printed  in  1 6 1 5, 
the  Year  before  our  Poet  died  f. 

More 

f  It  may  not  be  impertinent  to  obferve,  that  theConclu- 
fioti  of  the  fecond  Prophecy,  is  an  undoubted  Ridicule  upon 
the  manner  in  which  thofe  Forgeries  were  uttered  ;  and,  in 
particular,  upon  the  Prophecies  which  were  put  out  under 
the  Name  of  Merlin. 

'then  Jhall  the  Realm  of  Albion 
Ccme  to  great  Confufion. 

"  This  Prophecy  Merlin  fhall  make ;  for  I  do  live  be- 
'<  fore  his  Time."  Aft  JI.  Sc.  3. 

Bifhop  Hall  in  his  Virgid.emiarum  alludes  to  the  fame 
Practice,  and  gives  us  a  Prophecy  which  feems  in  a  great 
meafure  accomplifhed, 


[38] 

More  Examples  of  the  fame  nature  might  be 
€afily  alledged,  but  I  lhall  chufe  to  proceed  to 
thole  which  are  a  Sneer  upon  his  Fellow- 
Writers.  In  the  Midfummer  Night's  Dream, 
you  may  recollect  that  we  are  prefented  with 
the  lamentable  Comedy  of  Pyramus  and  T'hijbe  ; 
and  though  the  Fuftian  and  Blunders  of  it  may 
feem  well  enough  to  agree  with  the  Capacities 
of  the  Actors,  I  rather  imagine  that  many  of 
the  Lines  are  either  taken  from  fome  Poets 
of  thofe  Days,  or  wrote  in  Imitation  of  their 
Style.  The  Produ6tions  of  the  Writers  in  the 
Reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth^  were  miferably 
over-run  with  unnatural  and  far-fetched  Senti- 
ments, which  was  owing  to  a  fervile  Fondnefs 
for  the  Italian  Authors,  and  the  foolilh  Imi- 
tation of  their  Thoughts  and  Manner-,  yet  I 
muft  own  at  the  fame  time,  there  flourilhed 
many  excellent  Models  for  a  truer  and  better 
Tafte  in  Compofition.  What  contributed  not 
a  little  to  corrupt  the  Judgment  of  the  Age, 
were  the  Plays  and  Romances  of  Lilly.  Thefe 
were  a  perfect  Magazine  of  Affectation  and 
Conceit.  He  was  at  the  Head  of  all  the 
Beaux  Efprits,  followed  by  the  Gentlemen 

Lo  the  long  Date  cf  thcfe  expired  Days, 
Which  the  infyired  Merlin'.?  Word  for  efays ; 
When  Dunghill  Peafants/hall  be  dight  as  Kings, 
Then  one  Confufion  another  brings. 

L.  III.  Sat.  i. 

As  I  lhall  have  Occafion  to  mention  this  very  uncom- 
mon Performance  of  Biihop  Hall  in  another  place,  the 
Keader  may  expeft  to  find  a  more  particular  Account  of  it 
there. 

Sonnetteers 


[39] 

Sonnetteers,  and  eafy  Writers  of  every  Deno- 
mination. Among  the  feveral  Tricks  prac- 
tifed  by  the  greater  Part  of  thefe  Poets  we 
may  obferve  that  a  continual  Alliteration  runs 
through  the  Verfes  of  them  all,  which  was 
often  carried  to  the  higheft  Pitch  of  Affecta-  " 
tion.  This  is  very  evident  from  many  of  the 
Tragedies,  and  Trariflations  of  the  Latin  Claflics 
which  were  made  in  thofe  Times  ;'  and  Shakef- 
pcare,  together  with  the  reft  of  the  rhore  judi- 
cious Critics,  appears  to  ridicule  it  by  thefe  fol^ 
lowing  Lines  in  the  Play  laft  mentioned. 

Whereat  with  Blade,  with  Woody  blameful  Blade 
He  braixly  broach*  d  his  boiling  bloody  Breafl. 

I  queftion,  returned  Neander,  fmiling,  if  the 
great  Admirer  of  the  moft  excellent  Erythraeus,* 
would  eafily  forgive  fo  infolent  an  Attack  up- 
on, one  of  his  favourite  Arts  of  Verfe  •,  which 
he  has  afferted  to  compofe  in  a  great  meafure 
the  Mufic  and  Harmony  of  Poetry.  The  pro- 
per and  due  Ufe  of  it,  replied  Eugenius,  adds 
undoubtedly  much  Delicacy  and  Sweetnefs  to 
a  Poem  ;  but  this  perpetual  Repetition  of  the 
fame  Letter,  is  a  fort  of  childifh  Diverfion  > 
and  if  the  Merit  of  a  Piece  confided  in  that 
alone,  many  a  great  Author  would  be  obliged 
to  change  Places  with  his  Inferior  ;  the  Plau- 
dite  porcelli  porcorum  pigra  Propago  t  would 


*  See  Letters  on  Poetical  Tranjlations,   and  on 
and  VirgilV  Arts  of  Verfe. 

f  This  is  the  firft  Line  of  a  Latin  Poem  intitled, 
Porcorum,  confifting  of  about  3  50  Verfes,  ev^py  Word  of 
which  begins  with  the  Letter  P. 

(land 


[40] 

ftand  a  good  Chance  to  be  equalled  with  the 
ASttoU*. 

I  could 

*  If  it  fhould  not  be  agreed,  that  Shahe/peare  intended  to 
ridicule  this  affected  Alliteration  in  the.Verfes  above  cited, 
it  will  be  readily  acknowledged,  I  believe,  that  he  purpofely 
defigned  it  in  what  follows  : 

"Hot.  Sir  Nathaniel y  will  you  hear  an  extemporal  Epi- 
4*  .taph  on  the  Death  of  the  Deer  ?  And  to  humour  the  Ig 
"  norant,  I  have  called  the  Deer  the  Princefs  killed,  a 
«'  Pricket. 

"  Natb.  Perge,  good  Mafter  Ho/of  "ernes,  perge ;  fo  it  (hall 
"  pkafe  you  to  abrogate  Scurrility. 

"  HoL  I  will  fornething  affefi  the  Letter,  for  it  arguea 
•'  Facility.'* 

"  The  praifeful  Princefs  picrM  and  prickt, 
"  J  pretty  pleafing  Pricket,  &c. 

Lovers  Lab.  loft,  Aa  IV.  Sc.  2. 

. 

This  Excefs  of  Fondnefs  for  the  Italian  Poets,  is  taken 
notice  of  by  other  Writers  in  the  fame  Age.  Sir  Philip 
Sidney  has  expofed  it  with  fome  Satire,  in  his  Ajlrophd 
and  Stella. 

"  You  that  do  Diftiwary'ts  Method  Iring 

"  Into  your  Rhymes,  running  in  rattling  Rows  ; 
"  Tcut  that  poor  Petrareh^Vofrf  dcceafcdWocs 

"  With  new-born  Sighs,  and  denizen  4  Wit  do  fing. 

Stanz.  XV. 

Where  we  may  remark,  that  this  conceited  Affe&ation  of 
the  Letter  is  likewife-  cenfured  by  him,  not  without  Reafon  \ 
and  Billiop  Hall  has  the  following  Comparifon,  taken  from 
this  reigning  Practice : 

"  Or  an,  Hos  Ego,  from  old  PetrarchV  Spright 

**  Unto  a  Plagiarie  Sonnet -wrlght  L.  IV.  Sat.  2, 

And 


[4"  ] 

I  could  never  bring  myfelf  to  fubmit  to  the 
Drudgery  of  going  through  many  of  our  an- 
cient 

And  ridiculing  a  forry  Poet,  under  the  Name  6f  Labeo,  he 
refers  again  to  the  common  Cuftom  of  the  Tribe  :** 

'  He  fan  implore  the  Heathen  Deities, 
TV  guide  his  bold  and  bujy  Enter  prize ; 
Or  filch  whole  Pages  at  a  Clap  for  Need 
From  hone/i  Petrarch,  c lad  in  Englifti  Weed. 
While  big  But  Oh's  each  Stanza  can  begin, 
WhofeTrunke  andTayle  Jluttijh,  and  hartle/e  bin. 

L.  VI.  Sat.  i. 

Having  promifed  the  Reader  a  more  particular  Character 
of  thefe  Satires  above,  I  take  this  Opportunity  of  being 
as  good  as  my  Word  with  him,  and  of  introducing  Him 
to  a  more  general  Acquaintance  with  one  of  the  moft  curi- 
ous Pieces  of  our  Englijh  Poetry.  It  is  intitled,  "  Virgide- 
"  miarum,  Six  Bookes.  Firft  three  Bookes  of  Toothlefs 
"  Satyres, 

1.  Poetical!. 

2.  Academicall. 

3.  Morall. 

London,  printed  by  Thomas  Creedc,  for  Robert  Dexter,  1 597." 

The  fecond  Part  was  publi(hed  the  Year  after,  with  this 
Title,  "  Virgidemiarum,  The  three  laft  Bookes  of  by  ting 
Satyres." 

Imprinted  at  London,  by  Richard  Bradocke  for  Robert 
Dexter,  at  the  Signc  of  the  brazen  Serpent  in  Paules  Church 
Tarde,  1598. 

Biihop  Hall  was  born  in  1574,  and,  publiihing  thefc 
Satires  twenty-three  Years  after,  was,  as  he  himfelf  afferts, 
in  the  Prologue,  the  firft  Satyrift  in  the  Englijh  Language  : 

In  thefrjl  Adventure  with  fool- hardy  Might 
To  tread  the  Steps  of  perilous  Defpight ; 
Ifirji  adventure*  follow  ms  who  lift, 
And  be  the  fecond  Engliih  SatyriJ},, 


[42] 

cient  Plays,  or,    in  all  Probability,    I   might 
trace  in  Sbakefpeare  feveral    Parodies    upon 

them ; 

And  if  we  consider  the  Difficulty  of  introducing  fo  nice  a 
Poem  as  Satire  into  a  Nation,  -we  muft  allow  it  required 
the  Aififtance  of  no  common  and  ordinary  Genius.     The 
Italians  had  their  Ariofto,   and   the  French  their  Regnier, 
who  might  have  ferved  him  as  Models  for  Imitation ;  but 
he  copies  after  the  Antients,  and  chiefly  Juvenal  and  Per- 
Jius-,  tho' he  wants  not  many  Strokes  of  Elegance  and  De- 
licacy, which  mew  him  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  man- 
ner of  Horace.     Among  the  feveral  Difcouragements  which 
attended  his  Attempt  in  that  kind,  he  mentions  one  pecu- 
liar to  the  Language  and  Nature  of  the  Englijh  Verifica- 
tion, which  would  appear  in  the  Tranilation  of  one  ofPer- 
Jtus\  Satires :  "  The  Difficulty  and  DiiTonance  whereof, 
"  fays  he,  mall  make  good  my  Aflertion ;  befides  the  plain 
"  Experience  thereof  in  the  Satires  of  Ariofto  ;  fave  which, 
"  and  one  bafe  French  Satire,  I  could  never  attain  the 
"  View  of  any  for  my  Direction."     Yet  we  may  pay  him 
almoft  the  fame  Compliment  which  was  given  of  old  to 
Homer  and  Arcbilochus  :  For  the  Improvements  which  have 
been  made  by  fucceeding  Poets,  bear  no  manner  of  Propor- 
tion to  the  Diftance  of  Time  between  him  and  them.     The 
Verfes  of  Bifhop  Hall  are  in  general  extremely  mufical  and 
flowing,  and  are  greatly  preferable  to  Dr.  Dowe's,  as  being 
of  a  much  fmoother  Cadence  j  neither  {hall  we  find  him 
deficient,  if  compared  with  his  Succeffor,    in    Point  of 
Thought  and  Wit  ;  and  to  exceed  him  with  refpect  to  his 
Characters,  which  are  more  numerous,  and  wrought  up 
with  greater  Art  and  Strength  of  Colouring.     Many  of  his 
Lines  would  do  Honour  to  the  nioft  ingenious  of  our  mo- 
dern Poets ;  and  fome  of  them  have  thought  it  worth  their 
Labour  to  imitate  him,  efpecially  Mr.  Oldham.     Bifhop 
Hall  was  not  only  our  firil  Satirift,  but  was  the  firft  who 
brought  epiftolary  Writing  to  the  View  of  the  Public  ; 
vrhich  was  common  in  that  Age  to  other  Parts  of  Europe^ 
but  not  praclifed  in  England^  till  he   publifhed  his  own 
Epiflles    '  It  may  be  proper  to  take  Notice,  that  the  Virgi- 
demianim  are  not  printed  with  his  other  Writings ;  and  that 
all  Account  of  them  is  orm'tted  by  him,  thro'   his  extreme 
Modefty,  in  the  Specialties  of  his  Life,  prefixed  to  the  3d 
Vol.  of  his  Works  in  Folio.     I  cannot  forbear  mentioning 

a  Latin 


f  43  ] 

them  ;  fince  the  Beauty  of  fome  whole  Cha- 
racters is  chiefly  owing  to  that  Defign.     What 

can 

a  Latin  Book  of  his,  equally  valuable  and  forgotten,  called 
Mundus  alter  &  idem  ;  where  under  a  pretended  Defcrip- 
lion  of  the  Terra  Auftralis,  he  gives  us  a  very  ingenious 
Satire  on  the  Vices  and  Follies  of  Mankind.  To  fatisfy 
the  Curiofity  of  the  Reader,  I  have  tranfcribed  a  Character 
from  the  Virgidemiarum,  which  will  give  him-  a  better  Idea 
of  the  Whole,  than  any  thing  I  can  fay  in  its  Commen- 
dation. * 

But  who  hath  feen  the  Lambs  of  Tarentiaet 

May  guefs  what  Gallio  his  Manners  been  : 

All  foft  as  is  the  falling  Thjftle-downe, 

Soft  as  the  fumy  Ball,  or  Morrian's  Crowne. 

Now  Gal/io,  'gins  thy  youthly  Heate  to  reigne 

In  every  vigorous  Limme,  and  fwelling  Veine  ; 

Time  bids  thee  raife  thine  hedftrong  Thoughts  on  highe- 

To  Valour,  and  adventrous  Chivalrie  ; 

Paune  thou  no  Glove  for  Challenge  of  the  Deed, 

Nor  make  thy  Qyintaine  other's  armed  Head  ; 

T'  enrich  the  waiting  Herald  with  thy  Shame, 

And  make  thy  Lofle  the  fcornful  Scaffold's  Game. 

Wars !  God  forefend :  Nay,  God  defend  from  War, 

Soon  are  Sons  fpent,  that  not  foon  reared  are : 

Gallio  may  pull  me  Rofes  'ere  they  fall, 

Or  in  his  Net  entrap  the  Tennis-ball: 
Or  tend  his  Spar-hawk  mantling  in  her  Mew, 
Or  yelping  Beagles  bufy  Heeles  perfue ; 
Or  watch  a  finking  Cork  upon  the  Shore, 
Or  halter  Finches  thro'  a  privy  Door  : 
Or  lift  he  fpend  the  Time  in  fportful  Game, 
Jn  daily  courting  of  his  lovely  Dame  : 
Hang  on  her  Lips,  melt  in  her  wanton  Eye, 
Dance  in  her  Hand,  joy  in  her  Jollity  : 
Here's  little  Peril,  and  much  lefler  Paine, 
So  timely  Hymen  doe  the  reft  reftraine  ; 
Hy  wanton  Gallic,  and  wed  betime, 
Why  (hould'ft  thou  loofe  the  Pleafures  of  thy  Prime  ? 
F  z 


[44] 

can  be  more  fatirically  contrived,  if  v/e  confider 
it  in  this  View,  than  the  Character  of  PiRal  ; 
In  whom  the  Rants  and  Bombaft,  either  taken 
or  imitated  from  other  Plays,  are  extremely 
natural  and  proper  ?  And  Ben  Johnfon  intro- 
duces in  his  Poet  after  fome  Speeches  exactly  of 
the  fame  Stamp  with  many  of  Piftol's  Excla- 
mations : 

Why  then  lament  therefore  :  Damned  be  thy  Guts 
Unto  King  Pluto'  s  Hell,  and  princely  Erebus. 

Act  III.  Sc.  4. 


There  is  likewife  another  Wight 
cafhiered  Retinue,  the  facetious  Corporal  Nym  ^ 
who  recommends  himfelf  to  our  Notice  by  his 
Familiarity  with  a  fingle  Word  ;  this  he  brings 
into  play  upon  every  Turn.  For  that's  the 
HUMOUR  of  it.  The  whole  Part,  I  think, 
feems  to  be  formed  with  an  Intention  to  expofe 
the  Abufe  of  the  Word  Humour  j  and  as  John- 
fon fays, 

Could  not  lut  arrive  mo  ft  acceptable 
Cbiefly  to  fitch,  as  had  the  Happinefs 
Daily  to  fee  how  the  poor  innocent  Word 
Was  racked  and  tortufd. 

Every  Man  out  of  his  Humour. 

See'ft  thou  the  Rofe-leaves  fall  ungathered  ? 
Then  hy  thee,  wanton  Gallic,  to  wed. 

Virg.  L.  IV.  Sat.  4. 

I  fhould  apologize  for  the  Length  of  this  Note,  if  I  did 
not  think  the  Subjeft  a  fufficient  Recompence  for  the  Trou- 
ble of  reading  it. 

for 


[45] 

for  he  has  himfelf  remarked  upon  this  un- 
meaning Difpofition, 


When  if  an  Idiot 


Had  but  an  apijh  or  fantaftic  Strain 

It  was  his  Humour.  ibid. 

and  he  has  a  critical  Account  both  of  its  pri- 
mary and  metaphorical  Acceptation, 

*To  give  thofe  ignorant  wellfpoken  Days, 

Some  Tafle  of  their  Abufe  of  this  Word  Humour. 

For  even  honeft  Col,  the  Water-bearer,  was 
well  verfed  in  the  Gallantry  of  the  Times,  as 
he  gives  us  to  underftand  in  the  following 
Speech. 

"  Cob.  Nay,  I  have  my  Rheum,  and  I 
"  can  be  angry  as  well  as  another,  Sir. 

"  Cajh.  Thy  Rheum  Cob  ?  thy  Humour, 
44  thy  Humour,  thou  miftak'ft. 

44  Cob.  Humour  ?  Mack,  I  think  it  be  fa 
44  indeed,  what  is  that  Humour?  Some  rare 
44  thing  I  warrant. 

44  Cajh.  Marry,  I'll  tell  thec,  Cob,  It  is  a 
44  Gentleman-like  Monfler,  bred  in  the  fpecial 
44  Gallantry  of  our  time  by  Affectation,  and 
"  fed  by  Folly, 

"  Cob.    How,  muft  it  be  fed  ? 

44  Cajh.     Oh,  ay  ;  Humour  is  nothing  if  it 
44  be  not  fed.     Did'ft  thou  never  hear  that  ? 
>4  It's  a  common  Phrafe,  feed  my  Humour. 
Every  Man  in  his  Humour.  Act  III.  Sc,4. 


As 


[46  ] 

As  we  are  upon  this  Head,  I  mufl  take  No- 
tice of  a  Play,  mentioned  by   both  Authors, 
which  wanted  not  its  Favourers  among  the  Ad- 
mirers of  Jingle  and  Conceit ;  and  was  the 
common  Butt  of  the  more  judicious  Writers. 
The  Piece  I  mean  is  the  Spanifh  Tragedy -,  or 
Uieronymo  is  mad  again.   Iri  Ben  Jobnfon's  Every 
Man  in  his  Humour,  (Act  I.  Sc.  5.)  we  have  it 
fneered  by  a  Quotation  of  fome  Lines  from  it. 
"  What  new  Book  have  you  there  ?  fays  Boba- 
"  dill  to  Matthew:  What!  Go  by,  Hieronymo  ! 
"  Matt.  Ay,  did  you  ever  fee  it  acted  ?  Is  it 
"  not  well  penn'd?     Bob.   Well  penn'd?    I 
*c  would  fain  fee  all  the  Poets  of  thefe  Times 
*c  pen  fuch  another  Play  as  that  was.     They'll 
*c  prate  and  fwagger,  and  keep  a  Stir  of  Art 
*c  and  Devices,  when,  as  I  am  a  Gentleman^ 
*6  read  'em,  they  are  the  moft  fhallow,  pitiful, 
*<  barren  Fellows  that  live  upon  the  Face  of 
*c  the  Earth."     After  this,  Matthew  begins  to 
repeat  a  Speech  of  Hieronymo's  from  the  Third 
Ac\  abounding  with  the  moft  jejune  and  unna- 
tural Turns  upon  the  Word ;  and  concludes  it 
at  laft,  to  be  excellent,  and  fimply  the  beft  that 
ever  was  heard.*     Again,  in  the  Induction  to 
Cynthia 's  Rev  els ,  this  Account  is  given  of  it, 
*  Another,  whom  it  hath  pleafed  Nature  to 

"  furnifh 

*  The  fame  Paflage  which  John/on  ridicules,  is  parodied 
in  the  Comedy  of  Aibuma %ar>  by  .this  Speech  of?rfatajp*$. 

O  Lips,  no  Lips,  but  Leaves  befmear'dnvith  Me  I -dew  / 

O  De<w,  no  Deewt  but  Drops  of  Honey-Combs  f 

O  Combs,  no  Combs,  but  Fountains  full  of  Tears  / 

O  Tear  Si  no  Tears,  but     •  ..  Aft  II,  Sc.  I . 

And 


[47] 

"  furnifti  with  more  Beard  than  Brain, 
"  prunes  his  Muftaccio,  lifps,  and  with  fome 
"  Score  of  affedted  Oaths,  iwears  down  all 
"  that  fits  about  him,  that  the  old  Hieronymo 
"  as  it  was  firft  acted,  was  the  only  beft  and  ju- 
-"  didouQy  penn'd  Play  in  Europe"  Sbakef- 
$eare  in  his  Indu6tion  to  the  Taming  of  thi 
Shrew?  puts  a  Gird  at  it  in  the  Mouth  of  the 
drunken  Tinker,  who  is  fquabblmg  with  his 
Hoftefs  •,  Go  by?  Hieronymo  •,  go  to  thy  coldBed* 
and  warm  thee.  To  underftand  this  the  better, 
you  fhould  be  informed  that  it  alludes  to  two 
particular  Pafiages  in  the  Play :  The  firft  is, 
where  Hieronymo  alarmed  with  the  Murder  of 
his  Son  at  Night,  which  proves  at  laft  the  Caufe 
of  his  Madnefs,  comes  upon  the  Stage  in  his 
Shirt,  and  begins  thus: 

What  Out^cry  calls  me  from  my  naked  Bed? 
And  chills  my  throbbing  Heart  with  trembling 

Fear? 
Which  never  Danger  yet  could  daunt  before? 

Ad  II. 

The 

And  the  Satire  upon  Duelling  is  preferved  in  the  lame 
Play  with  great  Humour. 

Trine.     Say,  under fianffl  tbou  well  nice  Points  of  Duel  ? 
Art  born  of  gentle  Blood,  and  pure  Defcent  ?  &c. 

Ad  IV.  Scr.  7. 

From  all  this  we  may  collect  that  the  Englijb  Drama, 
at  that  Time,  was  a  kind  of  Medium  between  the  antienr 
and  middle  Comedy  of  the  Greeks  ;  and  participated  in 
fome  meafure  of  both.  And  we  may  obferve  the  Stage 
afted'to  its  proper  End,  in  expofing  Folly  of  all 
and  in  the  Support  of  Wit  and  Virtue. 


[43] 

The  other  is,  when  Hieronymo,  going  to  peti- 
tion the  King  for  Juftice  on  the  Murderers,  and 
he  afking,  Who  is  he  that  interrupts  our  Bufmefs  ? 
returns  this  Anfwer  :  Not  I-9  Hieronomo,  be- 
ware,  go  by^  go  by.  It  is  not  eafy  to  deter- 
mine, how  fo  undeferving  a  Piece  could  pof- 
fibly  fucceed  in  the  public  Favour  •,  but  I  am 
fure,  that  it  richly  Merits  every  Lafh  that  is 
bellowed  upon  it  -,  for  it  is  little  elfe  but  a  con- 
tinued String  of  Quibbles  and  Conceits,  even 
in  the  molt  paffionate  and  affeding  Parts. 
There  are  indeed  about  fix  good  Lines,  def- 
cribing  the  time  of  an  Afllgnation  appointed 
by  two  Lovers,  which  are  tender  and  natural 
enough  : 

Our  Hourjhallbe  when  Vefper  'gins  to  rife, 
¥h  at  fummons  home  diftrefied  Travellers : 
There  none  jh all  hear  us ^  but  the  harmless  Birds  ; 
Haply  the  gentle  Nightingale    V>  <  v     . 

Sb  all  carrol  us  ajleep  e'er  we  beware, 
Andfinging  with  the  Prickle  at  her  Breafty 
Tell  cur  Delight  <>  and  fportful  Dalliance. 

Act  II. 

The  Author  has  had  the  Happinefs  to  be  at 
this  Time  unknown,  the  Remembrance  of  him 
having  perifhed  with  himfelf;  yet  though  his 
Name  is  faved,  his  Work  will  continue  to  fuf- 
fer  Life  with  perpetual  Infamy. 

This  Practice,  interpofed  Neander,  of  cen- 
furing  the  Compofitions  of  each  other  upon 
the  Stage,  feems  to  have  been  not  infrequent 
among  the  Poets  of  thole  Days.     They  are  di- 
rectly 


[49  ] 

re&ly  cenfurcd  by  a  found  and  fevere  Judg- 
ment, or  condemned  ironically  by  the  Admi- 
ration of  Clowns  and  Fools,  or  the  Commen- 
dation of  fuch,  whofe  Praife  is  only  Scandal  in 
in  difguife  -,  and,  if  I  miftake  not,  Eugeniu^ 
Shakefpeare  himfelf  did  not  efcape  untouched, 
but  was  attacked  with  the  fame  Weapons  he 
had  fuccefsfully  made  ufe  of  againft  others. 
Your  Obfervation,  returned  EugeniuSj  is  not  to 
be  denied  •,  nor  will  I  conceal  from"  you  two 
Inftances  out  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  In  the 
the  Knight  of  the  Burning  Peftle^  the  Rehearfal 
of  that  Age,  the  Citizen's  Wife  bids  her  Pren- 
tice Ralph  fpeak  a  huffing  Part,  who  imme- 
diately throws  out, 

\ 

By  Heav'n  methinks  it  were  an  eafy  Leap 
¥0  pluck  bright  Honour  from  the  pale-fa  fd 
>  &c. 


which  is  a  Speech  of  Hotfpur's  in  the  Firft  Part 
of  Henry  the  Fourth  \  and  fo  likewife  in  the 
Scornful  Lady^  Welford  afks  Sir  Roger  the  Cu- 
rate, c<  But  ftiall  we  fee  thefe  Gentlemomen 
"  To-night?  Rog.  Have  Patience,  Sir,  until  our 
"  Fellow  Nicholas  be  deceafed,  that  is  afleep. 
"  For  fo  the  Word  is  taken  •,  to  deep,  to  die  ; 
*'  to  die,  to  deep  •,  a  very  Figure,  Sir."  And 
afterwards  :  "  Not  till  the  Man  be  in  his  Bed, 
"  his  Grave  •,  his  Grave,  his  Bed  :  The  very 
"  fame  again,  Sir."  This,  I  perceive,  replied 
Neander,  is  levelled  at  the  Soliloquy  of  Hamlet  ; 
.but  in  order  to  make  the  Ridicule  more  ftrik- 
ing,  he  has  given  the  Words  a  wrong  Turn. 
However,  that  ringing  fuch  Changes  upon 
'  G  Words 


[  5°  ] 

Words  was  not  then  uncommon,  we  may  ga- 
ther from  a  Part  of  that  very  Play,  where  Po- 
lonius  is  made  to  exprefs  himfelf  in  the  fame 
Trope. 

Polon.  Madam,  Ifwear  I  ufe  no  Art  at  all. 

That  he  is  mad,  'tis  true  ^  'tis  true  'tis pity \ 
And  pity  9tis9  'tis  true:  Afoolifh  Figure., 
But  farewell  it. 


Shakefpeare,  we  fee  then,  was  fully  fenfible, 
how  infipid  and  foolifh  fuch  Affe&ation  was ; 
and  it  is  not  very  likely  that  after  he  had  de- 
fervedly  laughed  at  it,  he  would  immediately 
guilty  of  it  himfelf. 

I  agree  with  you,  purfued  Eugenius,  that 
Fletcher  hath  mifrepreiented  the  Sentiment  of 
Shakefpeare  •,  neither  is  it  very  probable  that 
the  Poet,  who  appears  from  other  Paflages  to 
be  an  admirable  Critic  both  of  Propriety  of 
Thought  and  Style,  would  commit  a  Fault  in 
the  fame  Breath  almoft  in  v/hich  he  had  con- 
demned it.  But  thefe  Particulars  which  we 
have  been  now  inquiring  into,  Neander,  will 
hardly  be  allowed,  I  fear,  as  competent  Evi- 
dences for  the  Learning  of  Shakefpeare^  efpe- 
cialiy  in  the  Senfe  that  Word  is  commonly  un- 
derftood.  They  may  be  confide  red,  I  believe, 
however,  as  Inilances  of  his  Domeftic  Know- 
ledge, which  prove  him  to  have  a  complete 
Intelligence  of  all  home  Affairs.  How  exten- 
five  his  Foreign  Correfpondence  was,  we  fliall 
proceed  to  inquire  in  the  next  Place ;  and  very 
pofifibly  in  the  Courfe  of  our  Remarks,  we  may 

be 


[5'] 

be  able  to  produce  fome  Paflages  that  have  a 
manifeft  Conformity  to  others  in  the  ancient 
CMlcs. 

I  own  indeed  that  two  Writers  of  Genius 
and  Judgment,  may  eafily  fall  into  a  Same- 
nefs  of  thinking  upon  fimilar  Subjects  ;  and  a 
certain  Antient,  who  is  called  Aretad$s^  com- 
pofed  a  Treatife,  which  is  now  loft,  intitled, 
Hjf»  ffwtpaflutreus,  or  on  the  Coincidence  of  Senti- 
ment in  different  Authors.  Mr.  Menage  like- 
wife  in  his  Remarks  on  Malherbe's  Paraphrafe 
of  the  1 45th  Pfalm,  hath  put  together  feveral 
Paflages  from  various  Writers,  in  which  the 
fame  Thought  is  obferved  to  occur,  delivered 
in  very  near  the  fame  Words  :  And  he  adds 
withal,  how  little  Sufpicion  there  was  of  their 
copying  from  one  another.  But  Menage  wrote 
that  Note,  I  fancy,  chiefly  with  an  Eye  to  his 
own  Reputation,  fmce  Inftances  of  that  nature 
may  ferve  in  fome  Meafure  to  weaken,  if  they 
do  not  intirely  deftroy  the  Reproach  of  Pla- 
giarifm  •,  of  which  Mr.  Menage  was  frequently 
accufed,  and  perhaps  not  very  unjuftly,  by  fe- 
veral of  his  Countrymen  *.  So  that  after  all, 
when  the  Likenefs  is  very  ftriking,  an  impar- 
tial Judge  may  reafonable  fufpeclj  that  they 
cannot  be  .both  Originals. 

Before  you  enter,  interpofed  Neander^  upon 
this  Part  of  your  Inquiry,  give  me  leave  to 
propofe  to  you  the  Correction  of  an  Error, 
•which  hath  continued  unmolefted  in  all  the 
Editions  I  have  yet  feen.  It  is  one  of .  the 

*  See  Ouvrcs  tr.elces  d-e  M.  Chevreau,  p.  104,  &feq. 

G  z  Verfes 


Verfes  of  the  Cuckow-Song+  which  gave  fo 
much  Pleafure  to  the  Town,  and  was  in  every 
Body's  Mouth  about  feven  Years  ago.  The 
whole  of  it  runs  thus, 

When  Daifies  pied^  and  Violets  blue* 
And  Lady-fmocks  all  Silver  white^ 

yfWCuckow-buds  of  yellow  hue^ 

Do  paint  the  Meadows  with  Delight  j 

The  Cuckow  then  on  every  Tree^  &c. 


Shakefpeare,  we  may  perceive,  intended  to 
diftinguilh  each  Flower  by  an  Epithet  expref- 
five  of  its  particular  Colour  •,  but  in  the  pre- 
fent  reading  of  the  third  Line,  there  is  a  plain 
Miftake  -,  for  the  Cuckow  -Flower  is  fo  far  from 
being  yellow,  that  it  has  not  the  leaft  Tincture 
or  Shade  inclining  to  that  Hue.  If  you  con- 
fult  any  of  our  Herbalifts,  they  will  give  you 
undeniable  Conviction  :  For  one  of  them  in- 
forms us,  that  it  is  whitim  in  colour,  or  a  little 
dafhed  over  with  a  Bluflr  We  are  told  by 
another,  that  in  fome  Counties  the  Cuckow- 
flowers  are  called  Lady-fmocks.  And  from 
hence  it  mould  feem,  that  thefe  two  Terms 
are  but  different  Names  for  one  and  the  fame 
FJower.  The  Emendation.  I  would  fubftitute 
in  its  Room,  is  Crbcus-buds^  a  Word  exactly 
agreeable  to  the  Intention  of  the  Poet>  and  in 
the  flridleft  Senie  literally  true.  It  was  very 
eafy  for  a  carelefs  Cornpofer  for  the  Prefs,  ef- 
pecially  if  the  Traces  of  the  Letters  were  not 
plain,  to  miftake  one  for  the  other  j  or  his  Eye 
through  hafte,  might  cafually  drop  upon  the 
next  Line,  but  one,  when  it  readily  coming  to 

his 


[  53  ] 

his  Mind,  that  there  was  fuch  a  Flower,  he 
clapped  it  down,  without  confidering  whether 
it  was  confident  with  the  Epithet  or  not.  One 
of  thefe  Caufes,  I  imagine,  gave  rife  to  the 
prefent  reading,  and  brought  this  Confufion 
into  the  Song  •,  which  the  abovementioned  ealy 
Alteration  reftores  to  an  uniform  Simplicity. 
Your  Correction,  returned  Eugenius>  may,  I 
think,  be  very  naturally  admitted  ;  for  how- 
ever we  may  difpute  the  Knowledge  of  the 
Poet  in  Matters  of  ancient  Learning,  it  would 
be  ridiculous  to  deny  him  his  Share,  in  a 
Cafe  where  almoft  every  Peafant  is  a  proper 
Judge,  and  every  Meadow  affords  number- 
lefs  Confutations  of  his  Error  *.  Shakejfeare 
wrote  with  greater  Exaclnefs  than  the  Genera- 
lity of  his  Readers  may  imagine  -,  who  feldom 
confider  how  nice  and  accurate  a  Painter  he 
was,  as  well  as  the  univerfal  Mailer  of  Na- 
ture •,  and  that  he  did  not  render  great  Sub- 
jects more  elevated  and  furprizing  by  the 
Magnificence  and  Sublimity  of  his  Defcrip- 
tions,  than  he  made  common  and  little  ones 
agreeable  by  his  Likenefs  and  Propriety. 

If  all  the  Inftances,  continued  Eugemus, 
which  I  mall  hereafter  mention,  do  not  come 

*  The  Authority  of  Cotvley  may  perhaps  have  forae 
Weight  in  this  Cafe ;  the  Epithet  he  gives  the  Cuckow- 
flower,  is  white, 

Albaque  Cardamine,  Sec, 

Cardamine  flore  pleno,  &  cardamine  trifolia  recipiantur 
ctiam  in  hortos  :  Ang.  Cuckevc-foivers  (flos  cuculi)  Ladies 
Smocks.  ConL  Poem.  Lat.  p.  161.  Ed:t.  1678. 

fully 


[54] 

fully  up  to  the  Point  which  we  propofe  to 
fettle,  yet  they  will  convince  us  at  leaft  that 
Shakefpeare  could  not  think  like  the  Ancients, 
and  exprefs  himielf  with  an  equal  Simplicity  : 
For  I  do  not  pretend  to  determine,  that  he  had 
his  Eye  in  every  Particular  upon  fome  ancient 
Author.  I  have  placed  here  the  Volumes  all 
before  me,  with  fome  Strictures  which  I/  have 
made  from  Antiquity,  and  iliall  begin  with 
pointing  out  a  Paffage  in  the  Tempeji^  where 
the  Sentiment  is  full  in  the  Spirit  of  Homer. 
It  is  Profpero's  Arifwer  to  his  Daughter. 


Be  collected: 


No  more  Amazement  •,  tell  your  piteous  Heart^ 
There's  no  Harm  done.  Act  I.  Sc.  2. 

Would  not  you  think  that  the   Poet  was 
.imitating  thofe  Places  in  the  other,  where  his 
Heroes  are  rouzing  up  their  Courage  to  take 
j-Jeart  of  Grace,  and  begin  with  a 
jrubG   £:rl  'to  Vti:flfic/u8  £>nr;  :>  • 

TjT^.a^  k  xpa^jj. 

We  may  obferye  alfo  in  the  fame  Play  a  re- 
markable Example  of  his  Knowledge  in  the 
ancient  Poetic  Story  -,  when  Ceres  in  the  Mafque 
fpeaks  thus  to  Iris  upon  the  Approach  of 
Jum  : 


High  Queen  of  State, 


Great  Juno  comes  j  I  know  her  by  her  Gait. 

Here  methinks  now  is  no  fcnall  Mark  of  the 
Judgment  of  our  Author,  in  felec~ting  this  pe- 
culiar 


r  55] 

culiar  Circumftance  for  the  Difcovery  of  Juno. 
Arid  was  Virgil  himfelf  to  have  deicribed  her 
Motion,  he  would  have  done  it  in  the  fame 
manner  •,  for,  probably,  the  Divum  incedo 
Regina  of  that  Author,  might  furnifh  Shakef- 
peare  with  the  Hint  :  And  his  Decorum  of  the 
Character  is  perfectly  confiftent,  and  her  At- 
tendance upon  the  Wedding  intirely  agreeable 
to  her  Office. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  the  next  Play,  where  a 
jPaflage  flops  us  at  the  very  Beginning.  Tbefeus 
complains  thus  of  the  Tardinefs  of  Time  ; 


-O£,  metblnkS)  how  flow 

old  Moon  wanes !  Jhe  lingers  my  Defires 
Like  to  a  Stepdame^  or  a  Dowager 
Long  withering  out  a  young  Man's  Revenue. 

Midfummcr-Nights Dream,  Act  I.  Sc.  i. 

Suppofe  we  were  to  put  this  into  a  Latin 
Drefs,  could  any  Words  exprefs  it  more  ex- 
ex&ly,  than  thefe  of  Horace* 


Ut  pgcr  Annus 

quos  dura  premit  cuftodia  matrum* 
Sic  mihi  tar  da  fluunt%  ingrataquc  temp  or  a. 

L.  I.  Ep.  i.  v.  2ij  &  feq. 

Pafs  we  on  from  thefe  to  Me  a  fur e  for  Mea- 
fare,  where  in  the  fecond  Scene  of  the  third  Act, 
Clodio  gives  us  fuch  an  Image  of  the  -interme- 
diate State  after  Death,  as  bears  a  great  Re- 
femblance  to  the  Platonic  Purgations  defcribed 
\^  Virgil. 


[56] 

but  to  die^  and  go  we  know  not  where  \ 


-the  delighted  Spirit 


*To  bathe  injiery  Floods  ^  or  to  refide 
In  thrilling  Regions  of  thick-ribbed  Ice, 
To  be  imprifon'd  in  the  viewlefs  Winds , 
And  blown  with  reftlefs  Violence  round  about 
<The  pendant  World^  &c. 

Ergo  exercentur  p<etisy  veterumque  malorum 
Supplicia  expendunt.    Alise  panduntur  inanes 
Sufpenfe  ad  ventos :  aliis  fub  gurgite  vafto 
Infeftum  eluitur  fcelus^  aut  exuritur  igni. 

^neid,  L.  IV.  739,  &  feq. 

The  next  Inftance  which  I  have  obferved  to 
demand  our  Notice,  occurs  in  Much  ado  about 
Nothing  \  where  the  Thought  is  very  natural 
and  obvious,  founded  on  a  Failing  common  to 
Human  Nature. 

What  we  have  we  prize  not  to  its  worth 
Whilft  we  enjoy  it  -,  but  being  lack'd  and  lofl^ 
Why,  then  we  rack  the  Value ;  then  we  find 
tfhe  Virtue  that  PoJfeJJion  would  not  Jhew  us 
Whilft  it  was  ours.  '  Aft  IV.  Sc.  2. 

You  may  have  feen,  perhaps,  the  fame  Senti- 
ment in  many  ClafTic  Authors  5  but  the  moft 
analogous,  and  which  would  almoft  tempt  one 
to  believe  the  Poet  had  it  directly  before  him, 
is  the  following  from  Plautus  : 


[57] 

Turn  denique  homines'  noftra  intclligimus 
Cum  qua  in  pot  eft  ate  habuimus,  ea  ami/imus 

Captiv.  Aft  I.  Sc.  II.   v.  29. 

Shakefpeare's  Tcanflation  of  thefe  Verfes,  if 
I  may  take  the  Liberty  to  call  it  fo,  tho'  fome- 
thing  diffuled  and  paraphraftical,  exceeds,  in  my 
humble  Opinion,  the  Original  •,  for  the  Pro- 
pofition  being  diverfified  fo  agreeably,  makes 
a  deeper  Impreflion  on  the  Mind  and  Me- 
mory. 

If  we  compare  the  Defcription  of  the  wound- 
cxl  Stag,  in  As  you  like  it,  with  Virgil's  Rela- 
tion of  the  Death  of  the  fame  Creature,  we 
fhall  find  that  Sbakefpeare's  is  as  highly  finished 
and  as  mafterly  as  the  other  : 

fbe  wretched  Animal  heav'd  forth  fuch  Groans, 
'That  their  Difcharge  did  Jlretch  his  Leathern 

Coat 

-Almoft  to  lurfting  \  and  the  big  round  Tears 
Cours'd  one  another  down  his  innocent  Cheeks 
In  piteous  Chafe.  Aft  II.  Sc.  i. 

What  an  exquifite  Image  this  of  dumb  Diftrefs, 
and  of  a  wounded  Animal  languilhing  in  the 
Agonies  of  Pain  !  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
the  Lines  of  Virgil  do  not  reach  it  altogether 
fo  perfectly. 


H  Saucius 


[  58] 

Saucius  nt  Qitadrupes  not  a  intra  tefta  re/ugii, 
Succeflitque  gemensftabulis  :  Queftuque  cruentuSy 
Atque  imfloranti  ftmilis  teftum  oinne  replevit. 

y  L.  VII.  v.  500  &  feq. 


.     I  now  turn  to  the  Tragedy  of  King  Lear, 
where  his  paffionate  Exclamations  againft  his 
Daughters,  appear  to  have  been  copied  from 
the  Tbyeftes  of  Seneca^ 

I  will  have  fuch  Revenges  on  you  both 
tfhat  all  the  World  Jhall—  —  I  will  do  fuch  things-, 
What  they  are  yet  Iknow  not  \  but  they  Jh  all  be 
The*Terrors  of  the  Earth.  Act  II.  Sc.  2. 

-  Fac  quod  nulla  pojierltas  probet^ 

Sed  nulla  taceat  :  aliqticd  audendum  eft  nefas 

Atrox,  cruentum  :  Aft  II.  v.  192,  &  feq. 


y  quid  fit  i  fcio. 


Sed  grande  q,uiddam  eft.  Ibid,  270. 

* 

And  in  the  fourth  Act  we  meet  with  a  Paf- 
fage  which  deferves  our  Attention .  upon  4 
double  Account.  Clofter  lamenting  the  Abufes 
which  had  been  put  both  on  himfelf  and  his 
Son  Edgar i  wi flies  that  he  might  find  him  ^  and 
exprefieth  himfelf  thus, 

• O  dear  Son,  Edgar, 

?be  Feod  of  thy  abu[ed  Father's  Wrath  ; 
Might  I  but  live  to  fee  tbee  in  my  Touch 
I'dfay,  I  had  Eyes  again.         Act  IV,  Sc.-  i. 

To  fay  nothing  of  the  Octtlaf*  Manus  of  the 
Comic  Poet,  you  may  remark  in  thefe  Lines  a 
Contrariety  of  Metaphor  equally  bold  and  ele- 
gant > 


[59] 

gant  j  of  which  you  may  find  many  Examples 
in  the  ancient  Tragedians,  and  particularly  in 
jEfttytttS,  the  Athenian  Shakefpeare.  The 
whole  of  it  has  a  remarkable  Affinity  to 
the  Lamentation  of  CEdipus  in  his  Blindnefs, 
defiring  that  his  Daughters  might- be  brought 
him  : 


teta-QVj  xuTToxhctvo-iurQctt  xccxa* 

'    * %£f<"    FavStyuv 

Aoxoi  p  txpy  <?$#;,  Uff7f^  W  e&sTro?.     ' 

Ob,  might  I  once  but  have  them  in  my  Touch* 
Weep  o'er  their  Sorrows^  and  lament  our  Fate. 
Wttb  either  Hand  to  touch  their  tender  Forms^ 
Would  make  me  think  that  I  had  Eyes,  again. 

There  is  another  Paffage  in  King  Lear^  which 
though  not  taken  exprefly  from  any  particular 
Author,  is  directly  the  Language  ot  the  An- 
cients upon  fuch  Occafions.  They  were  fre- 
quently induced  by  Misfortunes  to  deny  the 
Juftice  and  Equity  of  Heaven  ;  and  when  they 
poured  forth  their  Complaints,  we  heard  of 
nothing  but  Superum  Crimina^  &  Deorum  Ini- 
quitas*  Claudian,  who  w^s  fceptically  inclined, 
and  queftioned  the  Knowledge  and  Wifdom  of 
Providence,  at  length  acquitted  the  Gods,  and 
was  convinced  by  the  Punifhment  of  Rufinus  : 

Abftulit  lunc  tandem  Rufini  p<ena  tumultum* 
Abiblvitque  Deos. 

Claudian  in  Rufin.  L;  I.  fub  init. 
H  2  The 


[  6o] 

The  Clofe  of  the  Period  in  Sbakeffeare  is  ex- 
actly of  the  fame  kind  : 


•fake  Phyfic,  Pomp, 


Exfofe  thy  f  elf  to  feel  what  Wretches  feel^ 
That  thou  mayefl  jhake  the  Superflux  to  them, 
And  fhew  the  Heavens  more  juil. 

Ad  III.  Sc.  5. 

The  Thought  in  both  Poets  is  evidently  falfe, 
not  being  founded  upon  Truth  and  Reafon, 
and  is  parallel  to  many  of  the  ftoical  Extrava- 
gancies of  Luc  an. 

By  continuing  our  Progrefs,  we  come  to  the 
firft  Part  of  Henry  the  IV  th,  where  we  have  an 
humorous  Application  of  a  Greek  Proverb  : 
"  How  long  is't  ago,  Jack,  fays  Hal  to  Fal- 

"  faff  9  ^nce  tnou  faw'ft  thy  own  Knee  ? 
*c  fal.  My  own  Knee  ?  When  I  was  about 
*c  thy  Years,  Hal9  I  could  have  crept  into  any 
"  Alder  man9  s  Thumb  Ring"  Creeping  through 
a  Ring  was  a  Phrafe  ufually  applied  to  fuch  as 
were  extremely  thin  •,  for  this  Reafon  the  old 
Woman  in  Arijlofhanes  makes  ufe  of  it  in  that 
Senfe  : 


sv  &v  efts  y  out 
Xf.  £t  fvyxfu/u  o  ^«XTfXt 

Plut.  v.  1067, 

You  may  draw  me,  fays  fhe,  very  eafily 
through  a  Ring.  Ay,  replies  Chremylus,  if 
that  Ring  was  about  the  Size  of  a  Hoop.'1 

From 


From  this  we  may  proceed  to  the  fecond 
Part  of  Henry  the  IVth,  where  we  meet  with 
a  political  Obfervation  of  Warwick 's,  who  ac- 
counts for  the  Difloyalty  of  Northumberland^ 
by  obferving  that  he  had  proved  faithlefs  to 
King  Richard : 

There  is  a  Hiftory  in  all  Metfs  Lives* 
Figuring  the  Nature  of  the  Times  deceafed : 
$he  which  obferv'd,  a  Man  may  frophefy 
With  a  near  Aim  of  the  Main  Chance  of  things 
As  yet  not  come  to  Life  •,  which  in  their  Seeds , 
And  weak  ^Beginnings  lie  intreafured, 

Aft  III.  Sc.  2. 

,A  Section  of  Antoninus  will  confirm  arid  illuf- 
trate  the  Remark  of  Shakefpeare  :  I  will  read  it 
to  you,  as  I  find  it  tranflated  by  Mr.  Collier. 
"  By  looking  back  into  Hiftory,  and  confi- 
"  dering  the  Fate  and  Revolutions  of  Govern- 
"  ment,  you  will  be  able  to  form  a  Gueis, 
"  and  almoft  prophefy  upon  the  future  -,  for 
"  things  pad,  prefent,  and  to  come  are  ftrange- 
<c  ly  uniform  and  of  a  Colour,  and  are  com- 
"  monly  caft  in  the  fame  Mould.  So  that 
"  upon  the  Matter,  forty  Years  of  Human 
"  Life  may  ferve  for  a  Sample  of  ten  thou- 
"  fand,"  Lib.  VII.  Seff  49.  And  fuch  is  the 
Character  which  Pliny  gives  of  Mauricus  : 
"  Vir  erat  gravis,  prudens,  multis  experimen- 
*'  tis  eruditus,  &  qui  futura  poflit  ex  praete- 
**  rids  praevidere.  L.  I.  Epift.  5. 

The  next  Place  remarkable  which  offers  it- 
felf,  is  the  Parting  between  Suffolk  and  Queen 

Mary, 


[62    ] 

Mary*  in  the  2d  Part  of  Henry  VI.  Aft  III. 
Sc.  8. 

yf  Wildernefs  is  populous  enough , 

So  Suffolk  bad  thy  heavenly  Company  ; 

For  where  thou  art^  there  is  the  World  itfelf* 

With  every  fever al  Pleafure  in  the  World  \ 

And  where  thou  art  not9  Defolation. 

This  is  the  antient  Language  of  Love  and 
Friend fhip,  and  employed  by  Tibullus  to  his 
own  Miftrefs. 

Sic  Ego  fecretis  poffum  lene  vivere  Silvisy 
Qua  nulla  humanojit  via  trita  pede  : 

fu  mihi  curaram  requies>  tu  notte  vel  atra 
Lumen,  &  in  folis  tu  mihi  turba  locis. 

L.IV.E1.  12. 

In  the  third  Part  of  Henry  VL  Edward^  sSon 
to  the  Duke  of  Tork,  replies  to  his  Father, 
who  had  urged  to  him  the  Oath  which  he  had 
taken  to  the  King, 

But  for  a  Kingdom  an  Oath  may  be  broken* 
fd  break  a  thoufand  Oaths  to  reign  one  Tear. 

A#  I.  Sc,  4. 

How  exactly  C<efar  and  the  young  Nobleman 
could  think  upon  the  fame  Occafion,  will  ap-^ 
pear  from  a  Speech  which  the  firil  of  them 
ufed  frequently  to  repeat  from  the  Pheniffte  of 
Euripides ; 

Nam 


[63  ] 

Namji  violandum  eft  Jus,  regnandi  Gratia 
Violandum  eft  5  aliis  rebus  pietatem  solas. 

Tull.  Off.  L.  III.C.  21. 

The  Character  which  Gloucefter  in  Richard 
III.  gives  of  Haftings,  has  a  vifible  Similitude 
to  fome  Lines  in  Horace  \  only  in  this  latter 
the  Thought  is  inverted. 

^ 

I  made  him  my  Book,  wherein  my  Soul  recorded 
The  Hiftory  of  all  her  fecret  thoughts. 

Ad  III.  Sc.  6. 

Ille  velut  fdis  arcana  Sodalibus^  olim 

Credebat  Libris.  L.  II.  Sat.  i.  v.  30. 

When  I  read,  interrupted  Neander,  in  Henry 
VIII.  Ad  III.  Sc.  i.  this  Speech  of  the  Queen'? 
to  the  two  Cardinals  j 

Would  I  had  never  trod  this  Englifh  Earth^ 
Or  felt  the  Flatteries  that  grsw  upon  it  : 
jTe've  ANGEL'S  Faces,  but  Heaven  knows  your 
Hearts. 

I  have  always  imagined  that  he  alluded  to  the 
well  known  Pun  of  Gregory  the  Great,  upon 
remarking  the  Beauty  of  fame  Englifh  Youths, 
who  were  expofed  to  Sale  at  Rome  before  their 
Converfion  to  Chriftianity.  It  is  the  fame 
which  was  afterwards  made  ufe  of  by  the  Mar- 
quis of  Villa  in  his  Epigram  on  Milton. 
*  io  As 


As  often  as  I  repeat  this  Apoftrophe   of 
Antony  in  Julius  C<efar,  returned 


That  I  did  love  theey  Caefar,  oh  'tis  true  : 
If  then  thy  Spirit  look  upon  us  now, 
Shall  it  not  grieve  thee  dearer  than  thy  Death9 
¥0  fee  thy  Antony  making  his  Peacey  &c. 

Ad  III.  Sc.  3. 

it  always  brings  to  my  Memory  the  following 
Paflage  in  Homer  : 


M>7,  [Aoi  riarfoxAr,  (TXvpctivtiMv,  aixt 
Z»5  a»5o?  wsg  luv  ort  Exropa  otov  iJvvcra 

ottutscc.  oux.iv  ctvoivx,     II,  24. 


If  in  that  Gloom  which  never  Light  mud  know, 
The  Deeds  of  Mortals  touch  the  Ghofts  below  -y 
O  Friend  I  forgive  me  that  I  thus  fulfill^ 
(Reftoring  Hc6tor)  Heav'tfs  unqueftion'd  WilL 
The  Gifts  th^  Father  gave^  be  ever  thine  v 
To  grace  thy  Manes  ^  and  adorn  thy  Shrine* 

POPE, 

I  cannot  pafs  over  what  I  have  obferved  in 
tfitus  Andronuus,  tho'  there  is  a  Probability  it 
might  not  come  from  Shakefpeare.  Tamora 
thus  intercedes  for  the  Life  of  her  Son  : 

Wilt  thou  draw  near  the  Nature  of  the  Gods  ? 
Draw  near  them  then  by  being  merciful.    Aft  I. 

Which  is  direclly  the  Senfe  and  Words  of   a 
PafTage  in  one  of  Cicero's  fined  Orations  :  Ho- 


[65] 

mines  AD  DEOS  NULLA  RE  PROPIUS  ACCEDUNT, 
quam  Salutem  hominibus  dando.  Or  at.  pro  Ligar. 
fub  fin.  And  Portia  defcribing  the  Amiable- 
nefs  of  Mercy  in  the  Merchant  of  Venice^  rea- 
fons  much  to  the  fame  Purpofe. 

//  is  an  Attribute  to  God  himfelf  •, 

And  earthly  Power  doth  then  Jhew  likeft  God's 

When-  Mercy  feafons  Juftice.  'Aft  IV. 

We  have  another  Paflage  in  the  fame  Play, 
which  feems  to  allude  to  an  Opinion  of  Anti- 
quity. It  is  when  the  Moor  receives  his  Son 
which  the  Nurfe  brought  him  from  the  Em- 
prefs,  and  he  thus  exults  upon  the  Occafion. 

Look  how  the  black  Slave  fmiles  upon  his  Father •, 
A,s  who  Jhould  fay,  old  £,ad,  I  am  thine  own, 

Aft  IV.  Sc.  3. 

To  explain  this  more  fully,  we  may  remember 
that  Opinion  of  the  Antients,  which  interpreted 
the  Smiles  of  an  Infant  upon  his  Parent,  either 
as  the  Prefage  of  his  future  good  Fortune,  or 
as.  the  Mark  whereby  he  owned  and  difcovered 
them.  Alluding  to  this  Notion,  Virgil  addrefTes 
himfelf  to  the  Son  of  Pollio  in  the  fame  manner. 

Jndpe^  parve  puer^  rifu  cognofcere  Matrem. 

Eclog.  IV.  60. 

I  might  have  obfer. ved  too,,  as  an  Inftance  of. 
the  Poet's  reading,  that  Antony's  Defcription 
of  the  Nilometer  m'jEgypt,  and 'the  Manner  of 
Sowing  upon  the  Decreafe  of  the  Nile,  is* 
I  perfectly 


[66  ] 

perfectly  agreeable  to  thofe  Accounts  which 
are  given  both  by  antient  and  modern  Tra- 
vellers. Anton,  and  Cleopatra.  Act  II.  Sc.  7. 

Heflor  in  the  ninth  Scene  of  the  fourth  Act  of 
froilus  and  Creffida  defcribes  Neoftolemus  in 
this  manner  •, 

On  whofe  bright  Creft  Fame  with  her  loud* ft 

O  yes, 
Cries,  this  is  He. 

which  may  be  confidered  as  an  Improvement  of 

At  Pulchrum  eft  digit?  monftrari,   t?  dicier  9 

hie  eft 9 

which  \ve  meet  with  \nPerfius.  And  when 
fherfites  in  the  laft  Act,  Sc.  13.  tells  a  Baftard 
Son  of  Priam  i  one  Bear  will  not  bite  another^ 
and  wherefore  Jhould  one  Baftard  ?  He  makes  an 
humorous  Allufion  to  S^evis  inter  fe  convenit 
TJrfis,  an  Obfervation  of  the  other  Satirifl. 

I  muft  not  pafs  by  Cymbeline,  without  point- 
ing out  one  Scene  in  which  PofthumuSj  con- 
vinced as  he  thought  of  the  Dilhonefty  of  his 
Wife,  is  moft  fatirically  fevere  on  the  whole 
Sex.  Euripides,  who  from  his  numerous  In- 
vectives of  the  fame  kind,  is  branded  with  the 
Name  of  Woman-hater,  hath  nothing  more 
keen  and  poignant.  In  one  Sentiment  they 
agree  entirely ;  for  thus  Pofthumus  begins  his 
Soliloquy ; 

Is 


js  there  no  Way  for  Men  to  be,  but  Women 
Mufl  te  'half  Workers  ?  &c,  Aft  II.  Sc.  7. 

And  the  Greek  Tragedian  affirms  the  fame. 


Ovlu  $*  ai  ate.  w  n<kv  owtyvirou;  xcucov. 

Medea,  v.  573.  &  feq. 

Milton,  who  knew  how  upon  Occafion  to  rail 
againft  the  Ladies,  has  enlarged  on  thefe  VerfeS 
of  Euripides  in  this  manner* 


•0  /  wby  did 


Creator  wife !  that  peopled  higheft  Heaven 
With  Spirits  maftuline,  create  at  laft 
*This  Novelty  on  Earth,  this  fair  Defect 
Of  Nature  ?  And  not  fill  the  World  at  ones 
With  Men^  as  Angel sy  without  feminine  ? 
Orfindfome  other  Way  to  generate 
Mankind?  This  Mif chief  had  not  then  befal'H 
And  more  that  Jhall  befal. 

Farad.  Loft.  L.  10.  v,  888.  &  feq. 

I  carry  you  from  hence  to  review  fome  Paf- 
fa£^s  in  Hamlet  •,  in  which  the  Elogy  he  gives 
of  his  deceafed  Father,  feems  to  comprehend  a, 
finifhed  Character. 

He  was  a  Man^  take  him  for  dU  and  #//, 

/  (hall  not  look  upon  his  like  again.     Ac"b  I.  Sc.4-    . 

This  will  be  thought,  perhaps,  too  much  the 
I  2  Suggeftion 


[68] 

Suggeftion  of  Nature,  and  of  the  human  Heart, 
to  be  taken  from  a  Place  of  Sophocles,  to  which 
it  has  a  great  Affinity. 

Tlatluv    aptrov    avtyct  TUV   tm  ^Son 
Krnvaf',   OTTOIOV    aMov  «>t  o\J/e»  wolf. 

Trachin.  v.  821.  &  feq. 

In  him  you  killed  the  left  of  Men  below. 
And  ne'er  will  look  upon  his  like  again. 

We  come  next  to  that  celebrated  Soliloquy 
in  the  third  Act,  Sc.  2.  which  feems  fo  peculi- 
arly the  Production  of  Shakefpeare,  that  you 
would  hardly  imagine  it  can  be  parallelled  in  all 
Antiquity.  Yet  I  will  produce  fome  Examples 
of  the  fame  kind  -,  one  of  which  at  leaft  will 
Ihew  how  nearly  two  great  Tragedians  could 
think  upon  the  fame  Subject.  A  learned  Gen- 
tleman has  taken  Notice  of  the  Conformity 
which  there  is  between  a  PafTage  in  Plato's 
Apology  for  Socrates,  and  the  following  Lines 
in  this  Speech*.  The  Sentiment  of  Plato  is 
to  this  Purpofe  -,  If,  fays  he,  there  be  no  Senfa- 
iion  after  Death,  but  as  when  one  Jleeps,  and 
fees  no  Dream,  Death  were  then  an  ineftimable 
Gain.  And  the  Verfes  of  the  Poet,  are  thefe 
which  follow. 


-To  die!  tofleep! 


No  more  -  and  by  a  Sleep  to  fay  we  end 
The  Heart-ach,  &c.  --  . 


p,  76. 

to 


(69  ] 

•To  die!  tofleep! 


To  Jleep  !  perchance  to  dream  !  Ay,  there's  the 
Rub,  &x. 

And  the  whole  has  a  remarkable  Similitude 
with  thefe  Verfes  in  the  Hippolytus  of  Euripides. 


K'ax  cr<  now* 
AXX'  o,  T»  ra 


At 

K'sx   awo^»|»»  TW»    wwo  yataj. 

V.  190.  &feq, 

How  full  of  Sorrow  are  the  Days  of  Man, 
Of  endlefs  Labour  and  unceafing  Woe  ! 
And  what  fucceeds,  our  Hopes  but  ill  prefage, 
For  Clouds  conceal,  and  Darknefs  refts  upon  it. 
Tet  ftill  wefuffer  Light,  aver/e  to  Life: 
Still  bend  reluttant  to  thofe  Ills  we  have, 
Thro*  Dread  of  others  which  we  know  not  of* 
And  fearful  of  that  undifcovered  Shore. 

And  in  particular, 

That  undifcover'd  Country  from  whofe   Bourn 
No  Traveller  returns, 

may  be   very  well   tranQated   by  this  of  the 
Latin  Poet. 

Nunc  it  per  Iter  tenebricofum, 
Jlluc,  unde  negant  redire  quenquam. 

Cat  u  11.  III.  v.  IT. 
L  appre- 


t  7°  1 

I  apprehend  it  was  from  the  Frequency  of  thefe 
moral  Refk&ions,  interpofed  Neander^  many 
of  which  «were  probably  put  into  his  Mouth 
by  Socrates^  that  Euripides  had  the  Appellation 
given  him  of  the  Dramatic  Philofopher.  The 
lame  Title  may  be  attributed  to  Shakefpeare^  if 
we  are  determined  by  the  Suffrage  of  a  noble 
Author  •,  whofe  Opinion  will  not  be  haftily  dif- 
puted  if  we  think  with  his  Admirers.,  that  he 
has  reduced  Morality  to  a  lefs  ungainly  Form,) 
than  what  me  ufually  had.  His  Judgment  on 
this  Tragedy  would  confirm  us*  which  he 
properly  confiders,  as  a  continued  Moral  ;  a 
Series  of  deep  Reflections  proceeding  from  the 
Mouth  of  one  Perlbn,  on  the  moft  important 
Subject*.  Every  Perfon,  returned  Eugenius^ 
has  thole  particular  Sentiments  which  confti- 
tute  the  Character  :  for  even  Polonius  appears 
furnillied  with  iuch  Obfervations,  which  long 
Experience  naturally  produces.  What  he  ob- 
ferves  of  the  Partiality  of  Mothers  to  their 
Children  in  the  Commiffion  of  any  Crime,  is 
agreeable  to  a  Remark  of  T'erettce. 

icTis  meet  that  fome  more  Audience  than  a  Mother 
(Since  Nature  makes  them  partial  )Jhou'd  o'er-hear 
Speech,  of  Vantage.  Act  III.  Sc.  8. 


The  Comic  Poet  gives  it  us  in  this  manner* 


-Matres  omnes  filiis 


In  Peccato  adjutrices>  Auxilio  in  Paterna  injuria 
Solent  effc.  Heauton.  Act  V.  Sc.  2.  v.  38. 

ift  Vol.  p.  275.  &  feq. 

We 


[  7*  3 

We  are  at  length,  Neandcr^  drawing  near  to 
the  Conclulion  of  our  Enquiry,  for  I  fhall  end 
with  an  Inftance  from  Othello,  which  is  vifibly 
parallel  to  a  Thought  of  the  like  Nature  in 
Terence. 


•If  /  were  now  to  die . 


"Twere  now  to  be  mo  ft  happy :  For  I  fear 
My  Soul  hath  her  Content  fo  abfoltite, 
'That  not  another  Comfort  like  fo  this 
Succeeds  in  unknown  Pate:  Aft  Jf.  Sc.  6, 

And  thus  Chxrea,  in-  an  Extafy  of  Joy,  breaks 
out'  in  a  like  Exclamation. 


-Prob  Jupiter! 


Nunc  Tempus  prof  eft  o  ejt^  cum  perpeti  mefojjum 

inter  fid : 
NeVita  aliqud  hoc  Gaudium  contaminet  <egri- 

tudine. 

Eunuch.  Aft  HI.  Sc.  5.. 

There  is  a  Paffage,  Neander,  in  this  Play, 
not  currently  approved  of,  and  expunged,  T 
find,  in  feveral  late  Editions.     It  is  part  of  the 
Moor's  Relation  to  the  Senate,  of  the  Stories 
which  he  told  Defdemona  in  his  Courtfllip. 

And,  of  the  Cannibals  that  each  other  eat, 
The  Anthropophagi :  and  Men  wbofc  Heads 
Do  grow  beneath  fiheir  Shoulders. 

As  repugnant  as  this  feems  .to  common  Senfe, 
if  I  might  venture  to  play  the  Critic,  I  mould 

probably 


probably  infert  it  in  its  Place  again.  Tho'  my 
Reafons  may  not  be  fo  convincing  to  you  as 
they  are  to  me,  you  will  think  them,  perhaps, 
not  altogether  void  of  Foundation.  The 
Stream  of  romancing  ran  high  in  the  Time  of 
Shakefpeare>  occafioned  by  the  imperfect  Dif- 
coveries  which  had  been  lately  made  iri  the  new 
World.  The  Reports  of  Travellers  were  fel- 
dom  attended  to,  if  they  contained  only  fuch 
Accidents  as  might  happen  to  any  one  without 
ilirring  from  his  Chimney  Corner.  On  this 
Account  a  Portion  of  the  Marvellous  was 
thrown  in,  to  excite  Attention  -9  and  to  make 
themfelves  appear  as  fortunate  in  feeing  ftrange 
Sights,  as  others  who  went  in  queft  of  foreign 
Adventures.  Accordingly  Othello  is  made  to 
ufe  the  Style  fo  much  in  Vogue  -,  and  it  is. 
equally  Defenftble,  whether  we  confider  it  as, 
proper  to  gain  Audience  with  a  Female  Ear, 
or  as  a  Cenfure  upon  thefe  Heroes  of  their  own, 
Imagination.  What  would  further  induce  me 
to  continue  thefe  Yerfes  in  the  Text,  is  the  fol- 
lowing Satire  from  the  Virgidemiarum  ;  where 
mention  is  made,  among  many  others,  of  the 
fame  Curiofities  which  our  Poet  talks  of.  You, 
will  remark  the  great  Conformity  betwixt  them 
both  ^  and  of  Confequence,  how  naturally  thefe 
exceptionable  Lines  of  Shakefpeare^  are  connec- 
ted with  thofe  immediately  preceding  them. 

fbe  Brain-fick  Touththat  feeds  his  tickled  Eare 
With' fwcet-faufd  Lies  offome^/alfe  Traveller  ^ 
Which  hath  the  Spanifh  Decades  red  a-wbile, 
Or  Whet-pone  Leafmgs  of  dd  Maundevile: 

Now 


[  73  ] 

Now  with  Difcourfes  breaks  bis  Midnight  Sleeff 
Of  his  Adventures  thro*  the  Indian  Deepe  ; 
Of  all  their  mafTy  Heapes  of  golden  Mines, 
Or  of  the  antique  Coombs  of  Paleftine  ; 
Or  <?/Damafcus  -magike  Wall  of  Glaffe^ 
Of  Solomon  his  fweating  Piles  of  Brajfe : 
Of  the  Bird  Rue  that  bears  an  Elephant, 
Of  Mermaids  that  the  Southerne  Seas  do  haunt : 
Of  Headleis  Men,  of  Savage  Cannibals 
The  Fajhions  of  their  Lives  and  Govfrnals,  &c. 
Virgidem.L.IV.Sat.^: 

The  Defection  of  Shakefpeare  will  receive,  I 
hope,  no  Injury  by  the  Comparifon. 

Wherein  of  Antres  vafty  and  Defarts  idle 
Rough  Quarries,  Rocks  9  and  Hills  ivhofe  Heads 

touch  Pleaven, 

It  was  my  Hint  tofpeak,fttch  was  the  Procefs^ 
And  of  the  Cannibals  that  each  other  eaty 
The  Anthropophagi i  and  Men  whofe  Heads 
Do  grow  beneath  their  Shoulders,  &c, 

Othello.  Aft  I 

I  have  not  chofe  to  infift  upon  Shakejpeare'2 
particular  Acceptation  of  fome  Words,   in  a 

Sen/e 

*  The  Origin  of  all  thefe  FaMes  is  to  be  found  in  Sir 
John  Mande<uillet  whole  Ti  avels  have  proved  a  very  fruit- 
ful Source  of  Wonders  to  fucceeding  Writers.  The  ex- 
ccfiive  Saperftiticn  of  our  Phyfician,  led  him  to  believe 
aU  the  Wonders  which  w~e,re  impbied  upon  him :  And 
gave  room  at  the  fame  time  for  thofe  additional  Stories, 
wjiich  were  probably  forced  into  his  Voyage  by  other 
Hands,  who  were  defirous  to  difplay  their  Knowledge 
in  Paay,  from  whom  they  took  their  jLiej. — <c  Aftreward 
K  "  Mea 


[  74'] 

Senfc  in  which  they  are  taken  by  the 
and  not  in  the  common  Uie  of  that  Age  in 
which  he  lived  j  which  amounts  to  a  Proof, 
that  he  was  a  per  feel  Mafter  of  the  Language, 
from  which  he  borrowed  them.  And  I  might 
have  added  fome  particular  expreflive  Meta- 
phors, which  may  be  parallelled  by  others  in 
the  Antients  ;  as  when  the  Rabble  in  Csriolanus 

are 

"  Men  gonbe  many  Yles  be  See,  unto  aYle  that  Men 
"  clepen  Milkt  :  and  there  is  a  fulle  curfed  Peple  :  for  thei 
'f.  delyten  in  ne  thing  more,  than  for  to  fighten  and  to 
'  fle  Men.  And  thei  drynken  gladlyeft  Mannes  Blood, 
'  the  whiche  thei  clepen  Dieu."  P.  235.  "  And  in  ano- 
ther Yle,  toward  the  Southe  duellen  Folk  of  foule  Sta- 
ture and  of  curfed  kynd,  than  han  no  Hedes  ;  and 
here  Eyen  ben  in  here  Scholdres,"  P.  243.  Edit.  1725. 
Our  Countryman  delivered  nothing  in  thefe  furprizing 
Relations,  but  what  the  reft  of  Europe  was  accuftomed  to 
believe  and  hear.  The  Spanijb  V  oyager,  Mendex  Pinto, 
had  an  equal  Fertility  of  Genius,  or  which  amounts  to  the 
fame,  as  large  a  Meafure  of  Credulity.  The  Charafter 
which  is  given  Sir  John  Mandeville,  in  the  Epitaph  on  his 
Tomb  at  Liege,  reprefents  him  as  a  devout  and  pious 
Chriftian. 

Eft  in  hac  quoque  regione  Guilielmitarum  Caenobium, 
in  quo  EpHaphium  hoc  Johannis  a  Mandeville  excepimus  : 


HIC  IACET  VIBL  NOBJLIS  DNS.  TOES  DE 
DEVILLE  AL'  DCVS  AD  BARBAM  MILES  DNS 
DECAMPDI  NATVS  DE  ANGLIA  MEDICINE  PRO- 
FESSOR DEVOTISSIMVS  ORATOR  ET  BONO. 
RVM  LARGISS1MVS  PAVPERIBUS  EROGATOR 
QVI  TOTO  QVASI  ORBE  LUSTRATO  LEODII 
J)1EM  VITE  SVE  CLAVSIT  EX  TREMVM  ANO. 
DNL  M°  CCC?.  LXXI°.  MENSIS  NOVEBRs  DIE 
XVII. 

Hxc  in  Lapide,  in  quo  oelata  viri  armata  Imago,  Leonem 
calcantis,  barba  bifurcata,  ad  caput  manus  benedicens,  & 
vernacula  h»c  Verba  : 

vos 


[75] 

are  called,  a.  Pile  ofnoifom*  mufty  CHAFF,  Aft  V. 
which  dtifib-pbanct  hath  employed  in  a  Cafe  not 
very  unlike  the  former  : 

T»;  yap  /*£Toix«K  A^'Jfae.^uv  etrw  htyu.  AcHAR. 

But  thefe,  with  many  others,  I  did  not  think 
it  material  to  mention,  unwilling  to  defcend  to 
the  Minuti*  of  Criticifm,  and  becaufe  you  muft 
have  remarked  the  fame  in  your  own  reading. 

( 

Thus,  Neander,  I  have  fufficiently  exercifed 
your  Patience  by  this  long  Detail  of  unjointed 
Citations,  which  would  have  .created  a  furBcient 
Difguft  to  a  more  faftidious  Critic.  Yet  as 
they  were  taken  from  Shakefpeare,  and  from 
other  Authors  of  the  firft  Rank,  I  have  the 
lefs  Occafion  to  trouble  you  with  an  Apology 
for  their  Number.  I  do  not  defire  to  pre- 
pofTefs  you  in  our  Favour,  leaving  you  at  full 
Liberty  to  determine,  as  the  Weight  pf  Evi- 
dence inclines  you. 

The  Satisfaction  you  have  given  me,  replied 
Neander,  in  thus  bringing  me  acquainted  with 

VOS  KI  PASEIS  SOR  MI  POVR  LAMOVR  DEIX 
PROIES  FOR  MI. 

Clypeus  erat  vacuus,  in  quo  olim  laminam  fuifle  djcebant 
aream,  &  ejus  in  ea  itidem  caelata  Infignia,  Leonem  vide- 
licet argenteum,  cui  ad  Peftus  Lunula  rubea  in  Campo  ex- 
ruleo,  quern  limbus  ambiret  denticulatus  ex  auro.  Ejus  nobis 
oftendebant  &  cultros,  Ephippiaque,  &  calcaria,  quibus 
ufum  fuiffe  aflerebant  in  peragrando  toto  fere  terrarum 
•rbe,  ut  clarius  ejus  teftatur  Itinerarium. 

Ortelii  Itinerat.  G alb-Brabant,  p.  1 29,  &  feq. 

K  2  many 


[76  1 

many  things  I  was  before  a  ftranger  to  in 
Sbakefpeare,  can  be  only  equalled  by  the  Wil- 
lingnefs  you  have  {hewn,  and  the  obliging 
manner  in  which  you  did  it :  But  I  will  wafte  no 
time,  Eugenius,  in  forming  Compliments,  which 
Would  not  well  agree  with  that  Intimacy  which 
fubfifts  between  us.  I  muft  own  that  many  of 
the  Places  you  have  quoted,  are  of  the  fame 
Gaft  with  others  in  the  ancient  Claflics*  But 
•whether  their  Similitude  is  flrong  enough  to 
prove  them  Copies  from  thofe  Originals,  I 
cannot  infallibly  'decide.  It  is  very  probable 
that  they  are ;  though  the  Marks  indeed  are 
not  fo  plain,  as  in  thole  Paflages  which  Ben 
Johnfon  hath  tranflated,  where  almoil  every 
Author  may  fwear  to  his  own  Property. 
There  is  one  Ancient  Book,  Eugenius^  you  have 
omitted,  in  which  he  appears  to  have  been 
much  converfant,  and  which  feems  in  various 
Inftances  to  have  given  a  very  confiderable 
Elevation  to  his  Style.  He  has  mifapplyed  it, 
I  confefs,  in  forne  few  Paflages  by  a  little 
wicked  Wit,  but  what  may  eafily  be  pardoned 
upon  the  whole.  The  Book  which  I  am  fpeak- 
ing  of,  is  the  BIBLE  ;  which  he  and  Milton  are 
greatly  indebted  to  both  for  Sentiment  and 
Diction.  The  Wits  of  our  Age  indeed  are 
commonly  as  utter  Strangers  to  thefe  Writings, 
as  they  pretend  to  be  intimate  with  the  others  ; 
or  if  a  PaiTage  ihould  chance  at  any  time  to 
come  athwart  their  Memory,  they  teftify  their 
good  Will  to  it  by  a  grofs  and  intolerable  Per- 
veriion. 

There  is  a  Pleafure  in  tracing  out  Imitations, 
or  AUufions  in  one  Author  to  the  Works  of 

another 


[77] 

another  •,  which  thofe,  who  are  fond  of  it,  may 
enjoy  to  a  high  Degree  in  the  Plays  of  Ben 
Jobnfon.  You  are  perpetually  making  new 
Difcoveries,  and  enjoy  the  fame  Satisfadtion  in 
the  Purfuit,  as  a  Mathematician  would  receive 
in  the  Inveftigation  of  a  Theorem.  For  this 
Reafon,  I  have  thought  his  Works  yield  as 
much  entertainment  in  the  Study,  as  on  the 
Stage  •,  becaufe,  unlefs  the  Chara&efs  are  fup- 
ported  wirh  much  Life,  the  Spirit  evaporates 
and  becomes  infipid.  All  Inftances  of  the 
kind  which  we  have  mentioned,  with  every 
Stroke  of  the  fatirical  Humour,  is  loft  in  the 
Reprefentation,  efpecially  to  a  common  Au- 
dience- 
There  is  a  Place  in  the  Alcbymift  evidently 
of  this  nature  ;  and  as  often  as  this  Comedy  is 
acted,  I  much  queftion  whether  the  true  Hu- 
mour of  it,  ever  entered  completely  into  the 
Thoughts  of  its  intelligent  Spedbators.  It  is 
Mammon's  Account  to  Surley  of  the  Origin 
and  Antiquity  of  Alchymy  ;  which  contains  an 
admirable  Satire  on  one  of  the  molt  fanciful 
Authors  that  ever  wrote  *. 

Mam.  ril  /hew  you  a  Book,  where  Mofes  and 

bis  Sifter, 

And  Solomon  have  written  of  the  Art : 

Ay,  and  a  Ireatife  penn'd  by  Adam, 
Sur.  How ! 
Mam.  Of  tbe  Pbilofopber*  s  Stone,  and  in  bigb 

Dutch. 

*  Vtiiverfal  HiJIory  I  ft  Vol.  Svo.  p.  246. 

Sur. 


Sur.  Did  Adam  write.  Sir,  in  High  Dutch  ? 
Mam.  He  did. 

Which  prows  it  was  theprimitiveTongue. 

Aft  II.  Sc.  i. 

Who  would  have  looked  in  this  Scene  for  fo 
unexpected  a  Wipe  on  Goropius  Becanus  •,  who 
endeavours,  among  other  Paradoxes,  to  prove 
that  the  Teutonic  Language  was  the  primitive 
Tongue  ;  and  that  it  was  fpoke  by  Adam,  and 
even  by  the  Deity  himfelf  in  Paradife  f. 

I  believe,  continued  Neander?  that  not  only 
the  Riches  of  Shakefpeare's  Genius,  prevented 
him  from  borrowing  from  the  Ancients  in 
many  Inftances,  but  that  he  was  prevented  as 
much  from  doing  fo  by  his  Judgment  like- 
wifo.  For  marking  every  Character  with  Sen- 
timents which  cannot  poflibly  be  applied  to 
any  other,  he  was  under  the  lefs  Neceflity  of 
having  recpurfe  to  any  common-place  Topics  ; 
3iitl  efpecially  to  that  curious  Mixture  of  the 
fierce  and  tender  ;  of  ranting  againft  the  Gods, 
idolizing  a  Miftrefs,  or  unnaturally  braving 
ones  own  Misfortunes  -9  than  all  which  nothing 
can  be  more  dextrous,  it  being  as  eafy  as  lying. 
Nor  was  he  obliged  to  call  out  in  the  Style  of 
Fatriotifm,  on  Liberty  and  Virtue  -,  Sentiments 
which  have  Hood  many  modern  Poets  in  great 
ftead  i  being  fuitable  to  every  great  Man,  and 
equally  proper  either  in  the  Mouth  of  a 
or  Hannibal. 


f  Sec  his  Origin, 

It 


r  79] 

It  will  be  alledged,  perhaps,  that  Sbakefpeare 
took  his  Hints  from  the  Translations,  which 
were  made  in  the  Reigns  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
and  King  James.  Ovid  appears  to  have  been 
a  favourite  Author  with  the  Poet,  whofe  Canfe 

lie  pleads  in  the  following  Lines  * 

i 

Let's  be  no  Stoics,  nor  no  Stocks  I  pray  , 
Orfo  devote  to  Ariftotle'j  Checks* 
As  Ovid  be  an  out-caft  quite  abjured. 

Taming  of  the  Shrew,  Aft  I.  Sc.  i, 

As  his  own  Tranflations  from  this  Poet  prove 
him  to  be  a  Mafter  of  his  Works,  I  think  it 
may  be  concluded  he  was  a  competent  Judge 
of  other  Authors  who  wrote  in  the  fame  Lan- 
guage. Thefe  are  much  fuperior  to  a  Tranf- 
lation  of  the  Metamorphofes  by  Arthur  Golding^ 
a  Perfon  of  fome  Eminence  for  Learning  in 
thofe  Days,  who  tranflated  alfo  C<efar's  Com- 
mentaries. My  Edition  is  printed  in  1603,  on 
a  black  Letter,  and  in  the  fame  Metre  with 
Pbaer's  Virgil 


That  feven-foot  Meafure,  replied 
was  the  common  length  in  all  Verfions  of  the 
ancient  Poets  :  And  the  TranQation  of  Seneca's 
Tragedies  by  feveral  Hands  in  1581,  is  all  in 
that  way,  except  the  ChorufTes,  which  are  in  a 
different  Metre,  You  will  give  me  leave  tQ 
read  you  Part  of  one  Chorus,  which  exceeds 
the  ufual  Poetry  of  that  Age,  and  is  equal  per- 
haps to  any  of  the  Verfions  which  have  been 
made  of  it  fmce.  It  is  the  Conclufion  of  the 
iecond  Act  of  the  Thyejies,  beginning  at 


[  8o] 

' 

Stet  quicunque  volet  pot  ens* 
Aul<£  culmim  lubrico. 

The  whole  is  tranQated  as  we  find  at  the  Be- 
ginning of  the  Tragedy,  by  Jafper  Hey  wood 
Felcw  of  Alfolne  Colledge  in  Oxenfordc. 

Eche  Man  himfelfthis  Kyngdome  geeves  at  band. 
Let  who  fo  lyft  with  mighty  mace -to  raygnc* 
J«  tyckle  toppe  of  Court  delight  to  ftand  -9 
Let  me  the  fweet  and  quiet  reft  obtayne. 
Sofet  in  Place  obfeure*  and  lowe  Degree , 
Ofpleafaunt  Reft*  IJhall  the  Sweetnefs  knoe  ; 
My  Life^  unknowne  to  them  that  noble  bee. 
Shall  in  the  Steppe  of  fecrtt  Silence  goe. 
^bus  when  my  Days  at  length  are  over  p aft 
And  fyme  without  all  troublous  'Tumult  ffent ; 
An  aged  Man  IJhall  depart  at  laft, 
In  mean  Eftaie*  to  dye  full  well  content. 
But  grievous  is  to  him  the  Death*  that  when 
So  farre  abroade  the  Bruite  of  him  is  blowne, 
%hat  hnowne  he  is  too  much  to  other  Men, 
Departeihyet  unto  himfelf  unknowne* 

I  have  one  Obfervation  more  to  detain «you 
with,  Neander^  which  relates  to  Milton's  Imi- 
tation of  our  Author.  He  confeffed  indeed^ 
that  Spenfer  was  his  poetical  Father ;  but  he 
feems  to  have  improved  the  Dignity  of  his 
Style,  by  a  familiar  Converfation  with  the 
Writings  of  Shakefpeare.  And  he  is  no  lefs 
obliged  to  him  for  the  fofter  Beauties  of  his 
fmaJJer  Compolitions.  That  very  picturefque 

Image 


f  8r  J 

Image  of  Laughter  holding  both  his  Sides*  in  the 
L*  Allegro,  feems  to  have  been  taken  from  this 
Line  in  the  Midfummer  Night's  Dream  ; 

And  then  the  whole  Quire  hold  their  Hips  and 
loffe.  Aft  II  Sc.  i. 

As  the  following  in  Richard  the  Second* 


Who  are  the  Violets  now, 


Thatftrew  the  green  Lap  of  the  new  come  Spring  ? 

Adb  V.  Sc.  4. 

may  have  given  him  the  Hint  of  thefe  \ 

•  \  .'   '  '    M  *r« 

The  flow*  ry  May  who  from  her  green  Lap  throws , 
The  yellow  C^wjlip9  and  the  pale  Primrofe. 

Song  on  May  Morning. 

For  Shakefpeare  could  be  no  lefs  the  Poet  of 
Nature  in  drawing  rural  and  defcriptive  Scenes, 
than  in  painting  the  Paffions  and  Manners. 

Your  mentioning  Milton,  interpofed  Nean- 
dery  inclines  me  to  defire  your  Opinion  upon  a 
Point,  which  is  not  very  foreign  to  our  prefent 
Subjed.  A  learned  Gentleman  hath  taken 
fome  Pains  to  prove  him  a  notorious  Plagiary ; 
and  that  his  Paradife  Loft  is  little  better  than  a 
Tranfcript  from  certain  modern  Poets,  who 
have  wrote  upon  the  Jike  Argument.  He 
affirms  the  fame  too  of  the  Paradife  Regained, 
and  of  his  Sampfon  Agoniftes.  I  think,  re- 
turned Eugenius,  that  the  Gentleman  would  find 
fome  Difficulty  in  making  good  his  Allegations ; 
L  and 


[82] 

and  that  he  will  never  be  able  to  produce  2000 
Verfes,  which  are  a  direct  Tranflation,  I  do  not 
fay  from  one  Author  alone,  as  he  feems  to 
affert,  but  from  his  whole  Body  of  Poets  put 
together.  It  furely  does  not  follow,  that  be- 
caufe  his  Title  is  a-kin  to  thofe  of  others,  his 
whole  Work  mufl;  be  taken  from  them  :  Or 
that  becaufe  he  has  tranilated  three  Lines  from 
Grotius,  and  as  many,  perhaps,  from  Ramfay, 
or  Mafeniusy  he  muft,  of  Confequence,  have 
adopted  the  whole  Tragedy  of  another.  But 
allowing  the  Fact,  interpofed  Neander^  in  what 
confifts  the  Crime  ?  Hath  not  Virgil  done  the 
fame  from  Homer  ?  And  are  not  all  Authors 
whatfoever,  efpecially  of  ere  in  longo,  indebted 
tq  fome  others  for  a  Sentiment  or  two  ?  If  he 
would  confult  a  certain  German*  I  could  men- 
tion, he  would  receive  full  Conviction  on  that 
Head.  Sophs  dcs^  and  Seneca,  and  Corneilk  have 
wrote  each  of  them  an  Oedipus  •,  but  Dryden 
\vas  never  yet  accuftd  of  ftealing  his  from 
either.  The  laft  great  Poet  of  our  Nation 
made  no  Scruple  to  confefs,  that  he  ferved  him- 
felf  all  he  could  by  his  Reading  f,  which  any 
one  may  fee,  who  but  dips  into  a  Page  of  his 
Works  :  And  he  never  was  charged  with  Pla- 
giarifm,  but  by  fuch  whofe  Character  I  am  as 
little  inclined  to  fix  on  Mr.  L.  as  he  deferves  it. 
If  the  Gentleman,  replied  Eugenius,  would  fa- 
vour us  with  an  Edition  of  thofe  Poets  who 
have  wrote  on  facred  Subjects,  for  which  he 


de  Plagio  Literario,  to  which  I  might   add 
$he  Ccnturia  Plcgiariorum  of  Fabricius. 
•\  Pope's  Preface  to  his  Works. 

appears 


[83] 

appears  extremely  well  qualified,  he  would  do 
a  much  more  acceptable  Service  to  Men  of 
Letters,  than  by  obtruding  tortured  Tranfla- 
tions  upon  Milton,  and  afterwards  reproaching 
the  poor  Eyelels  Bard  with  Names  of  ignominy 
and  Difgrace. 

If  this  Inquiry  .into  Shakespeare's  Learning 
had  fallen  into  fuch  induftrious  Hands,  you 
had  probably  feen  more  and  ftronger  Examples 
than  any  which  I  am  able  to  produce  •,  tho'  at 
the  fame  time,  perhaps,  he  would  have  met 
with  more  ungentle  Treatment.  I  believe  I 
ought  to  retract  that  Opinion  ;  for  there  is  no 
one  but  muft  be  awed  with  Admiration  in  read- 
ing the  Poet,  whofe  Character  is  as  much  beyond 
Defcription,  as  he  is  above  all  others  who  have 
wrote  in  the  fame  Art.  The  Judgment  of 
^uintilian,  with  refpeft  to  Cicero,  with  a 
little  Alteration,  may  faintly  fhadow  out  his 
Excellence ;  fmce  he  feems  to  have  obtained 
that  Honour  with  Pofterity,  that  Shakefpeare 
may  be  efteemed  not  fo  much  the  Name  of  a 
Man,  as  of  Dramatic  Poetry  itfelf.  And  that 
to  have  a  proper  Relifli  for  his  Plays,  is  a  Sign 
of  a  true  and  improved  Tafte*.  Juft  as  Euge- 
nius  had  pronoun'ced  thefe  Words,  the  Clock 
ftruck  Two  •,  upon  which  he  added,  turning  to 
Neander,  you  can  make  no  Excufe  for  refuiing 

*  dpud  po/lfros  *vero  id  Confecutus,  ut  Cicero  jam  non 
Jtominisj  fed  Eloquent i^e  nomen  habeatur.  Hunc  igitur  Spec  • 
temus:  Hoc  propojitum  nobis  Jit  Exemplum.  Illefc  profecij/e 
fciaty  cui  Cicero  *valelc  placebit. 

Quintil.  Inflit.  Orat.  L.  X.  C   i. 


to 


[  84  ] 

to  dine  with  me,  as  the  Time  is  near  at  Hand, 
and  you  informed  me  before  that  you  are  intire- 
ly  at  your  own  Difpofal.  Neander  complied 
with  the  Invitation,  on  Condition  that  his  Friend 
would  accompany  him  to  fee  the  Tragedy  of 
Hamlet,  •  which  was  acted  in  the  Evening,  to 
which  he  readily  agreed. 


F   I  N  I  S. 


REMARKS 

"/*''        ' 

O  N 

THREE    PLAYS 

O  F 

BENJAMIN  JONSON. 

V  I  Z. 

*» 

VOL  PONE,  or  The  Fox:  EPICOENE,  or  We  Silent 
Woman:  and  The  ALC  H  i  M  i ST. 


"  Then  to  the  well-trod  ftage  anon, 

"  If  JOHNSON'S  learned  fock  be  on, 

"  Or  fweeteft  SHAKESPEAR,  Fancy's  child, 

"  Warble  his  native  wood-notes  wild. 

MILT.  U Allegro. 


LONDON; 

Printed  for  G.  HAWKINS,   at  Milton's  Head,  be- 
tween the  two  Temple-Gates,  Fleetftreet. 

MDCCXL1X. 


PREFACE. 

THESE  curfory  remarks  on  three 
of  the  moft  celebrated  Poems    (as 
he  himfelf  is  pleafed  to  namfe  them) 
of  our  ancient  and  learned  Comedian,  which 
are  here   offered  to  the  reader's  confidera- 
tion,    (to  his  entertainment,   or  inftruclion, 
I  dare  not  fay)  were  at  firft  written  by  me, 
for  the  moft  part,    on  the  margin   of  an 
edition  printed  in  the  year  1640. 

'Twas  no  ungrateful  amufement  (and 
this  induces  me  to  think  'twill  be  not  lefs 
grateful  to  the  reader)  to  compare  JON  SON 
with  the  original  authors,  which  he  imitat- 
ed ;  and  to  find,  that  whenever  he  confider- 
ed  with  himfelf,  how  HORACE,  JUVE- 
NAL, PL  AUT  us,  or  any  other  of  the  ancient 
writers,  would  have  written  on  fuch  a 
fubject,  or  exprefled  fuch  a  fentiment, 
•that  then  he  always  excelled  himfelf.  And 
this,  perhaps,  may  account  for  that  inequa- 
lity we  find  in  his  compofitions :  his  good 
genius  feems  to  have  forfaken  him,  when- 
A  2  ever 


PREFACE. 

ever  he  forfook  the  guides  of  antiquity, 
and  trufted  to  his  own  natural  ftrength. 

There  is  indeed  the  one  thing  necejfary 
in  all  writings,  much  wanting  in  the  writ- 
ings of  JON  SON,  and  that  is,  the  power 
to  touch  the  heart :  no  fcholarfhip  (as 
the  word  is  vulgarly  ufed)  can  abfolute- 
ly  teach  a  writer  this  art ;  for  this  he 
muft  go  to  his  domeftic  .and  inward  mo- 
nitor, and  there  fearch  for  the  fecret 
fprings  and  motives  of  adtion ;  what  is 
many  whereto  ferveth  he,  what  is  his 
goody  and  what  is  his  evil  *  ?  In  a  word, 
he  muft  have  the  proper  feeling,  before 
he  can  attain  to  the  proper  expreffion. 
Methinks  in  this  fcience  his  contempora- 
ry SHAKESPEARE  has  greatly  the  pre- 
eminence; nor  is  he  at  all  inferior  to  JON- 
SON  in  exhibiting,  in  ridiculous  and  vari- 
ous lights,  the  various  follies  of  mankind. 

But  it  ought  not  to  be  pafled  over,  with- 
out fome  feverer  cenfure,  how  vainly  full, 
and  conceitedly  fatisfied  with  himfelf,  we 
perpetually  find  our  poet;  even  in  fuch  a 

*  Ecclefiafticus  xviii,,  9. 

manner 


P  R  E  F  A  C  E. 

manner  as  to  miftake  his  proper  talent. 
The  Comic  Mufe  (*  as  he  himfelf  expreffes 
it)  proving  ominous  to  him,  he  is  refolved 
to  try  if  the  Tragic  had  a  more  kind 
afpetli 


c< 


Where  if  I  prove  the  pleafure  but  of 


"  So  he  judicious  be;  hee  fhall  b*  alone 
cc  A  theater  unto  me  :  once,  Tie  'fay 
cc  To  ftrike  the  eare  of  time,  in  thofe 

<e  frefli  (trains, 
<c  As  (hall,    befide  the  cunning  of  their 

ct   ground, 
<c  Give  caufe  to  fome  of  wonder,  fome 

"  defpight, 
"  And  unto   more  defpaire  to  imitate 

"  their  found. 

Now  the  afpeft  of  the  ^Tragic  Mufe  was 
fo  little  favourable  to  our  poet  when  in 
bufkins,  that  even  in  the  choice  of  his  fub- 
jedl  he  failed  :  SE  JANUS  and  CATILINE 
jare  hiftorical  characters  fo  well  known, 

*  In  his  apohgetical  dialogue  at  the  end  of  tbt  Poet  after. 

3  that 


P  R  E  F  A  C  E, 

that  no  diftrefs  which  befalls  them,  ean 
poffibly  raife  any  kind  of  pity  (the  chiefeft 
and  nobleft  paflion  belonging  to  tragedy) 
in  the  breaft  of  the  beholder.  All  fhew 
of  learning  then  becomes  the  worft  kind 
of  pedantry,  when  fubftituted  in  the  room 
of  poetic  paffion,  fentiment,  and  decorum  : 
though  in  common  juftice  be  it  fpoken  of 
JONSON,  that  he  as  feldom  fails  in  the 
two  latter,  as  he  fhines  in  the  former. 
Hence  comedy  was  his  proper  talent ; 
and  his  knowledge  feems  rather  to  con- 
fift  in  being  able  to  expofe  thofe  follies, 
and  lefler  kind  of  vices,  which  render 
men  contemptible  j  than  from  a  well  con- 
ducted diftrefs  to  fhew  the  amiablenefs, 
and  dignity  of  a  virtuous  character. 

Were  the  tragic  and  comic  mufes  thus 
to  preferve  their  proper  rank,  and  cha- 
racters, how  well  are  they  fitted  to  an- 
fwer  that  great  end  of  profit,  and  delight  ? 
And  how  abfurd  are  all  thofe  kind  of  men, 
who  blinded  by  their  puritanical  pride, 
and  mifled  by  ill-natured  fpleen,  cannot 
diftinguifli  between  things  rightly  ufed, 

and 


PREFACE. 

tnd  prepofteroufly  abufed?  But  re- 
fections of  this  nature  the  reader,  at  his 
>wnleifure,  may  indulge.  Let  us  return 
;o  the  fubfequent  remarks. 

JONSON  has  few  paflages  that  want'cor- 
reftion,  but  many  that  want  explanation : 
ivhich  is,  in  a  great  meafure,  owing  to  his 
illufions,  and  to  his  tranflations  of  ancient 
mthors.  I  have  not  pointed  out  every  fuch 
allufion,  or  tranflation ;  but  only  fuch,    as 
feemed  not  quite  fo  obvious  to  every  rea- 
der; or  chiefly  indeed,   fuch,    as  in  tran- 
fcribing,  I  could  imagine  that  I  added  fome- 
what  to  the  labours  of  former  critics,  whe- 
ther in  our  modern,  or  in  the  more  learned 
languages.  This  is  indeed  a  province,   for 
which,  however  mean  our  education  hap- 
pens to  be,    yet  by  the  help  of  a   certain 
kind  of  reading,  and   a  proper  degree  of 
pilfering  from  the  obfervations  of  other 
men,  we  all  think  ourfelves  highly  qualifi- 
ed. Criticifm  is  now  no  longer,  as  former- 
ly,  the  finifhed  production  of  experienced 
learning,  but  the  untimely  fruit  of  a  confi- 
dent brow,  and  a  fplenetic  heart.  No  won- 
der 


PREFACE. 

der  therefore,  if  from  the  number  of*bun- 
gling  artifls,  the  art  itfelf  ,is  brought  intc 
contempt  ;  and  that  now  at  length  the  fa- 
tal period  of  time  fhould  approach,  wher 
critics  themfelves  {hould  be  involved  in  thai 
general  ridicule,  which  .long  ago  has  beer 
the  fate  of  divines,  philofophers,  and  politi- 
cians. 

But  whatever  becomes  of  critics  or  theii 

'caufe,.  which  I  fhall  not  now  defend  ;   witl 

refpeft  to  the  following  remarks,    there  i 

one  thing  of  neceffity  I  muft  infift  on,    anc 

that  is,  if  they  obtain  the  e  ad  above  menti- 

oned,  they  an  fwer  the  intention   of  the 

.writer,  and  fhould  likewife  ,anfwer  the  ex- 

pectations of  the  candid  and  ingenuous  rea- 

der. 


K  lo. 


i^dn 


. 


R  I 


•  R  E  M  A  R  K  S 

0  N 

V  o  L  P  o  N  E  or  the  F  o  x, 


PROLOGUE. 

T 


H I S  we  were  bid  to  credit,  From  our 
"  Poet, 

"  Whofe  true  fcope,  if  you  would  know  it, 
*'  In  all  his  Poems,  ftill,  hathbeene  this  meafure, 

<c  To  mix  PROFIT,  with  your  PLEASURE. 

Our  learned  Comedian  takes  particular  care, 
in  many  pafiages  throughout  his  works,  to  let 
his  audience  know,  that  he  ftrictly  obferved 
what  his  favourite  author  writes  in  the  art  of 
poetry : 

u  Omne  tulit  punftum,  qui  mifcuit  UTILE  DULCI, 
( >*  Leftorem  deleft ando>  pariterque  monendo. 

So  in  the  fecond  Prologue  to  the  Silent  Woman : 

<c  The  ends  of  all,    who  for  the  fcene  do 

"  write, 

*'  Are  or  mould  be,  to  PROFIT  and  DELIGHT. 
B  And 


2  REMARKS^ 

And  in  his  Introduction  to  Every  Man  out  p/ 
bis  Humour: 

"  Afp.  To  pleafe,  but  wht?m  ?   attentive  audi- 

"  tors, 
"  Such  as  will  joyne  their  PROFIT  with  their 

'c  PLEASURE. 

And  in  other  places. —  'Tis  obfervable  likewife 
that  JONSON  calls  himfelf  here  a  poet^  and  his. 
plays,  poems-,  m akingtife of expreflions import- 
ing dignity  and  honour :  thus  in  his  Difc9Vtries<> 
"  a  poet  is  that  which  by  the  Greeks  is  called 
«  X*T' igoxiX  o  nolHTHs,  a  maker,  &c.  And 
this  name  he  gives  to  himfelf  in  the  Prologue 
to  the  Silent  Woman. 

"  Left  fo  you  make  the  Maker  to  judge  yoij. 
But  of  this  enough  has  been  faid  dfewhere.     , 

Ibid. 

cc  And  not  AS  SOME   (whofe  throats  their  envifc 

"  fayling) 

"  Cry  hoarfely,  all  he  writes  is  rayling  : 
<c  And  when  his  playes  come  forth,  think  they 

«  can  flout  them, 
<c  With  faying,  he  was  a  yeere  about  them. 

He  means  particularly  DECKER,  the  author  of 
SatyromaftiX)  or  the  untruffwg  a  humorous  po- 
et j  which  was  written  as  an  anfwer  to  JONSON'S 

Poetajier, 


V  o  L  t>  o  N  E  or  the  F  o  x.  3 

Po  ft  after  9  where  DECKER  is  lafhed  under  the 
name  of  CRISPINUS  ;  who  in  the  fifth  aft  of  the 
play  has  a  vomit  given  him,  to  make  him  bring 
up  his  far-fetched  and  affcdled  words.  "  What 
"  a  tumult  he  had  in  his  belly  ! "  fays  CAESAR 
of  him,  juft  as  was  faid  of  LEXIPHANES  in  Lu- 
CIAN,  who  was  ferved  after  the  fame  manner  ; 

«ro*u£  o  j3o£&>£yj/^oj.    [Luc.  %0flt.  1.  p.  836.]    At 

the  end  of  the  Poetafter  he  has  added,  what  he 
calls,  an  apologetic al  dialogue  -,  in  which  are  thefe 
verfes,  alluding  to  DECKER,  and  the  minute 
poets  of  the  age. 

"  Pol.  O,  but  they  lay  particular  imputations— 
"  Aut.  As  what?    Pol  That  all  your  writing 
"  is  meer  railing. 

*  Aut.  Ha*  they  no  other?  Pol  Yes,  they  fay 

"  you  are  flow, 
"  And  fcarce  bring  forth  a  play  a  year. 

Ibid, 

"  Only  a  little  SALT  remayneth, 

"  Wherewith  hee'le    Ru6   yo\Jf  cheecks> 

"  'till  (red  with  laughter) 
<c  They  fhall  look  frefh,    a  weeke  after- 

This  is  a  latinifm  borrowed  from  HORACE* 
Lib,  i.  Sat.  10. 

B  2  "  —  At 


4  ^REMARKS    ott 

*«  *^~At  idem>  quod  SALE  multo 

"  Vrhm  DEPRICUIT,  chart  &  laudatur  eadem. 

Ad.  I.    Sc.  I. 

VOLPONE,       MOSCA. 

I          *,-»«-  •••      -  >    ••       •      •*  ~    - 1*.  I -*V     '  -ii  •''•"! 

ec  Good  morning  to  the  Day ;  and  next  my  Gold. 
*c  Open  the  Shrine,  that  I  may  fee  my  Saint. 
"  Haile  the  world's  Soule,   and  mine !    more 

"  glad  than  is 

<c  The  teeming  Earth  to  fee  the  long'd-forSunne 
"  Peepe  through  the  homes  of  the  celeftial  Ram, 
"  Am  I,  to  view  thy  fplendor,  darkning  his  : 
* '  That  lying  here  amongft  my  other  hoords, 
**  Shewft  like  a  flame  by  night ;  or  like  the  day 
cc  Struck  out  of  Chaos,  when  all  darknefle  fled 
<e  Unto  the  center.     O*  thou  fonne  of  SOL 
**  (But  brighter  than  thy  father)  let  me  kiffe, 
"  With  adoration,  thee  and  every  relique 
**  Of  facred  treafure  in 'this  blefled  roome. 

The  fcenc  is  a  room  in  VOLPONE'S  houfe.— 
Open  the  Sbrine—*-He  fpeaks  to  MOSCA*  his  fer- 
vant  or  parafite  :  who  opens  a  curtain,  and  dif- 
covers  VOLPONE'S  treafure,  being  chiefly  pre- 
fents  from  thofe  who  ftrove  to  be  his  heir.  The 
reader  cannot  but  perceive  that  the  diction  rifes 
to  a  tragic  iublimiry:  [tollit  'vocem  comtedta.] 

that 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  5 

that  expreflion,  Jhewft  like  aflame  by  #*£&/,— is 
imitated  from  PINDAR 

o£ 


«  i  Thou  art  virtue,  fame, 

"  Honour,  and  all  things  elfe  !  who  can  get  thee, 
**  He  mall  be  noble,  valiant,  honeft,  wife  - 
"  Mosc.  And  what  he  will,  Sir. 


enm  res 

<c  Virtus^  fama,  decus,  divina  bumanaqus^  pulcbris 
<c  Divitiis  parent  ;  quas  qui  conftruxerit,  ille 
u  Clarus  erit,  fortis9juftus.  Sapienfne?  Etiam  et 

"  rex, 
««  JB/  «/«/W  w^r/.  Hor.  L.  II.  S.  III. 


Ibid. 
cc  Mosc.    You  are  not  like  a  threfher,    that 

"  doth  ftand 

"  With  a  huge  flaile,  watching  a  heape  of  corne, 
"  And  hungrie  dares  not  tafte  the  fmalleft 

«  grane, 

"  But  feeds  on  mallowes,  and  fuch  bitter  herbs. 
*c  Nor  like  the  merchant,    who  hath  fill'd  his 

*'  vaults 

B  3  «  With 


6  REMARKS  era 

"  With  Ramagnia,  and  rich  Candian  wines, 
"  Yet  drinks  the  lees  of  Lombard's  vineger. 

*  *  You  will  not  lye  in  ftraw,    whilft  moth  and 

<c  worms 

"  Feed  on  your  fumptuous  hangings,  and  foft 
"  beds. 

This  too  is  imitated  from  his  favourite  author. 

"  Si  quis  ad  ingentem  frumenti  femper  acervum 

<c  POR&E  e  TU  s  vigikt  cum  longo  fufte  \  neque  illinc 

<c  Audeat  efuriens  dominus  contingere  granum  5 

c*  Ac  fotius  foliis  parcus  vefcatur  amaris  : 

"  Si  pofitis  intus  Cbii  veterifque  Falernl 

«c  Milk  cadis  *  nihil  eft,   ter  centum  millibus  ;  acre 

*  Potet  acetum:    agey  Jl  et  ftramentis 


w  Qttoginta  annos  natus^  cuiftragula 
"  Bhttarum  ac  tinearum  epulae,  putrtfcat  in  area: 
<c  Nimirum  infanus  paucis  videatur  ;  eo  quod 
<c  Maxima  pars  hominumworbo  jaftatur  eodem. 

L.  II.  S.  3. 

Dr.  BENTLEY  fays  PORRECTUS  flgnifies  lying 
at  his  eafe,  luxurioufly  ftretched  out  :  (but  that 
ilgnification  entirely  depends  on  thofe  words 
with  which  it  may  happen  to  be  joined,  (imply 
of  itfelf  it  flgnifies  nothing,  butftretcbed,  or 
reacted  out  :)  he  fubftitutes  therefore  PROJE- 

CTUS 


VOLPONE  or  the  Fox.  7 
CTUS  in  its  room,  as  a  word  more  agreeable 
to  the  miferable  fituation  of  this  covetous 
wretch.  Why  fhould  we  not  admit  the  inter- 
pretation of  our  Conledian  ?  Stand  watching — 
ftand  upright  at  his  full  length,  like  a  centinel 
on  duty,  watching  with  a  long  club?  This 
image  is  more  pi&urefque  and  humourous  •, 
nor  does  it  at  all  contradict  the  original  mean- 
ing of  the  word. This  and  the  above  men- 
tioned imitations  of  HORACE  arevifible  to  eve- 
ry fchole-boy:  but  I  will  mention  one  in  Seja+ 
nus  not  quite  fo  obvious. 

"  Flav.   Great  mother  Fortune,  queen  of  hu- 

"  man  ftate, 

"  Redtrefs  of  ACTION,  arbitrefs  of  fate, 
«<  To  whom  all  fway,  all  power,  all  empire 

"  bowes, 
"  Be  prefent  and  propitious  to  our  vows. 

Adb.V. 

They  who  know  any  thing  of  JON  SON'S  perpe- 
tual allufions  to  ancient  authors,  will  plainly  per- 
ceive he  wrote, 

«  Re&refs  of  ANTIU.M,  &c. 
From  HORACE  L.  i.  Od.  35. 
O  Diva  gratum  qua  regis  ANTIUM. 

B4  Aft 


8  REMARKS  m 

Aft.  I.  Sc.IL 

NANO,  ANDRQGYNQ,  CASTRONE,  VOLPONE, 

MOSCA. 
"  Now  roome  for  frelh  gamfters,    wbo  doe  will  you 

"  to  know, 
c<  They  doe  bring  you  neither  play,    nor  Univerjitit 

"  Jbow ; 
*c  And  therefore  do  intreat  you,    that  whatsoever 

"  they  reherfe, 
<c  May  not  fare  a  whit  the  worfe,  for  the  falft 

4<  pace  of  the  verfe. 
*f  If  y,°u  wonder  at  this,  you  will  wonder  wore  ere 

"  we  pafs, 
««  For  know  here  is  inclos'd  the  foule  0/PyTHA- 

4<    CORAS, 

c  c  That  juggler  divine. 

This  whole  fcene  is  an  interlude  invented  by 
MOSCA  to  entertain  his  patron  VOL  PONE.    The 
Dwarf  gives  an  account  of  the  various  transfor- 
mations of  Androgynos^   the  hermaphrodite, — 
**  For  know  HERE  is  inclofed  the  foul  of  PVTUA- 

*'    GORAS, 

HERE,  Jeixlixwf,   pointing  to  him : And  the 

•whole  is  intended  as  a  ridicule  on  the  vulgarly 
believed  doftrines  of  PYTHAGORAS  ;    and    is 
chiefly  borrowed  from  one  of  LUCIAN'S  dia- 
logues, 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox."  9 

logues,  intitled  the  Dream,  or  the  Cock.  Our 
poet  would  not  have  you  underftand,  by  the 
falfe  pace  of  the  verfe  >  that  he  errs  againft  all 
laws  of  metre,  but  that  fometimes  the  pace  of 
the  verfe  may  offend  the  too  delicate  and  nice  aar, 
and  that  the  meafure  is  to  be  helped  a  little  by 
the  fpeaker  ;  as  it  often  happens  to  be  the  cafe 
in  PLAUTUS  and  in  TERENCE.  The  meafure 
is  of  the  anapeftic  kind,  confifting  of  Anapefts, 
Spondees,  Daftyls,  and  fometimes  the  pes  pro- 
celeufmaticus  :  \.  e.  the  foot  of  four  fhort  fylla- 
bles  j  as  in  this  verfe  of  EURIPIDES  : 


af  o  Si\ 
i  z  34 

After  the  fame  manner  thefe  verfes  here  are  to 
be  meafured. 

"  Now  room  for  \frejh  gamften  \  tvbo  doe  will  \  you  to  knout 

i  a  3  4 

"  They  doe  bring  you  \  neither  flay  \  nor  Uni  \  verftiejbvw 

?  *  3  4 

"  jtnd  therefore  \  doe  intreat  you  \  that  wbatfo'eer  \  they  rebtrfe 

i  a  3  4 

*'  May  not  fare  a  \  tubit  the  ivorfe  \for  the  falfe  face  \  of  the  verfe. 
i  a  34 

To  this  meafure  the  reader  may  reduce  them 

all  :  a  little  lower  we  have, 

**  Counting  \  all  old  \  doftrine  \  Herejie. 


And  prefently  after 


io  REMARKS  on 

«  -Sy  others  aprnife9  pure,  illuminate  brother, 
«  Ofthofe  devour  fle/b)  and  fontetimes  one  another. 

In  this  laft  there  is  plainly  a  word  wanting,  that 
fpoils  both  the  meafure  and  the  fenfe  :  we  Ihould 
read, 

vfi  Ci'jSi!  3  J)~*'Ji3fl  oo  Ol  '.;  :*'i-  .  Jii._  ,*^"H^j 

"  Qftltft  that  1  dewurjlejb  \  and  fometimts  \  *ne  another. 
i  *  34 

Let  this  fuffice  concerning  the  meafure,  let  us 
now  confider  the  meaning.  —  By  Univerfitie  /how* 
he  means  fuch  mafks  and  plays,  as  our  Univer- 
fities  ufed  to  exhibit  to  our  Kings  and  Queens  : 
thefe  plays  were  made,  and  afted  by  the  Scho- 
lars in  their  Halls.  —  In  calling  PYTHAGORAS, 
that  Juggler  divine,  he  tranflates  Luci  AN'S  words 
in  the  forementioned  treatife, 


Ibid. 

**  And  was  breath*  ^  into  ^TriALiDES,  MERCU* 

"  RIUS  his  feme  9 
"  Where  it  had  the  gift  to  remember  all  that  ever 

cc  was  done. 
"  From  thence  it  fled  forth  ,  and  made  quick  tranf- 

c«  migration 
"  To  goldy-lockt  EUPHQRBUS,   who  was  kill*  d  in 


"  goo 


At 


VOLPONE  or  the  Fox.  1  1 

At  tfa  fiege  of  old  Troy,    by  tbe  cuckold  of 
"  Sparta. 
This  is  from  APOLLONIVS.  Lib.  i.  #.  640* 

fi/w?  (T  Atfr*  ex  VMS  a£»pje$ 


TW   uT££ 

STTET^ITTOV 

"OS   'QI   MNtfSTIN 

IT*  KUJ/  73- 


Interim  proccres  e  navi  dblegant 

'Aetbalidem  expeditum  caduceatorem^    cui  nunciati- 

ones 

Curandas  crediderant^  et  baculum  Mercurii, 
Qui  cum  pater  ipjl  erat^  turn  vero  omnium  donarat 

memoriam 

Indelebilem^  ut  ne  quidem  abforpto  nunc  Acherpntis 
Jndeprecabili  ingluvie  Letba  incurfat  animam. 

JONSON  had  his  eye  on  this  paflage  of  APOLLO- 
NIUS,  and  has  tranflated  his  very  words.  Inftead 
of  aVoi^ojtAHva  I  would  read  ITO^O^  :  for  this  is 
the  conftrudlion,  &  tt\  m  -sreo 
%yv    [EXI/VH]  ot^oju/vy    ITT\  J 

The  Scholiaft  will  fling  a  light  on  our  poet. 

$  T8TOV  rpy  Ai'0aA«/^K  ol  nuGdc^-o^xoi,  T»IJ  ^"X^ 
«<pO«l»f,  3t*I«  jugu  raj  Tu'/xv  ;      evtf    ctvaSjiwVfitvlos   Eu- 


12  REMARKS  on 

^reila  Ix  TSTK 


}  » 


TO  ovojtxa  ayvofiTa;*  jw-ca  raura  au- 
T»W  TOV  IluOayo^av.  The  reader  may  likewife,  if  he 
wants  to  know  more  of  this  matter,  confult  DIO- 
GENES LAERTIUS,  and  LUCIAN.  EUPHORBUS 
is  called  goldy-lockt,  from  HOMER,  II.  g.  f.  51. 


t7  3"*,  o*t  ^f  u<r«  T£ 

Sanguine  ei  ngdbantur  corn^  gratiis  fimiles9 
Cincinnique,  qul  auroque  et  argento  conftri&ierant. 
Thefe,   and  the  following  verfes  in  HOMER, 
PYTHAGORAS  was  fo  charmed  with,  that  he  fet 
them  to  mufick,  and  Tung  them  on  his  lyre. 

Ibid. 

"  Bejides  oxe,  and  affe,  camell^  mule,  goaf  an$  brock^ 
<e  In  all  which  -it  hath  Jpoke  as  in  the  COBLER'S 

"  COCK. 

This  COBLE  R  is  MICYLLUS.     See  Luc  JAN'S 
treatife  De  Qallo. 

Ibid. 

"  But  I  come  not  here  to  difcourfe  of  that  mat- 

"  ter, 
"  Or  his  one,  two,  or  three,  or  his  great  oath, 

<c  by  quater, 

«  His  muficks,  his  trigon,  his  golden  thigh, 

"  Or 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  13 

ie  Or  his  telling  how  elements  fhift.  or) 

'Tis  well  known  how  this  greateft  of  all  philofb- 
phers,  (always  excepting  SOCRATES)  reafpned 
by  analogy,  from  numbers  and  mathematical 
theories,  to  the  order  and  ceconomy  of  the  uni- 
verfe,  and  to  the  .al-wife  governor  of  it.  His 
difciples  were  all  initiated  into  mathematical  fci- 
snces  :  EUCLID  (a  Pythagorean)  divulged  his 
mathematics,  but  concealed  their  application. 
Dthers,  who  Were  no  Pythagoreans,  ridiculed  his 
we9  two  and  three  &c.  Such  asLuciAN  in  par- 
icular,  whom  our  poet  follows.—  His  great  oath 
ty  quater,  is  mentioned  in  the  Golden  verfes,  as 
:hey  are  called,  written  by  one  of  PYTHAGO- 
IAS'S  fcholars  : 

Sfa)  p*  TOU  »IAITS£»  -fyvX*  zretfoiJQvl*  TETPAKTTN 


Per  eum  certs  qui  nobis  tradidit  quatcrnarium, 
Font  em  perennis  natura. 

His  golden  thigh  —  This  is  a  fubje<5b  of  ridicule 
:requently  in  LUCIAN:  mention  too  is  made  of 
:his  ftrange  .ftory  in  LAERTIUS  •,  [Lib.  VIII. 
\  XL]  the  original  of  which  'tis  difficult  to 
trace. 

Dr  bis  telling  how  element  s/h  if  t.  -  OVID  gives 

in  account  of  tiu&fhifting  of  the  elements  ;   and, 

2  confider- 


14  REMARKS  on 

confidering  him  as  a  wit  and  unbeliever,  repre- 
fents  PYTHAGORAS'S  myftefious  dodtrines  very 
fairly. 

"  Rerumque  novatrix 
Ex  aliis  alias  reparat  natura  figuras. 
Necperitintzntoqwdquam  (mibi  credite)  mundoj 

Sed  variat  faclemque  novat.     Met.  XV. 

. 
BURMAN'S  edition  has  tanto  :  feme  books  read 

toto ;  which  is  doubtlefs  the  true  reading ;  for 
OAON  and  IIAN,  are  philofophical  exprefiions  j 
which  OVID  here  trandates  by  toto  mundo. 

Ibid. 
46  NAN.  O  wonderful  change  !   when  Sir  Law* 

"  yer  forfook  thee, 
46  For  PYTHAGORAS'S  fake,    what, body  then 

"  took  thee  ? 
|c  AN  DR.  A  good  dul  moyle.  NAN.  And  how ! 

"  by  that  meanes, 
"  Thou  wert  brought  to  allow  of  the  eating  of 

"  beans? 

Prom  the  Lawyer^  he  fays,  he  went  into  the 
Lawyer's  Mule.  The  Lawyers  ufed  formerly, 
the  more  dignified  among  them  particularly,  to 
ride  to  Weftminfter  Hall,  with  great  ftate,  on 
their  Mules,  on  folemn  and  fet  days :  to  this  he 
alludes  prefently  after,  fpeaking  of  the  Lawyer 

VOL- 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fo*.  j  § 

VOLTORI,  with  reference  to  the  Englifh  man- 
ners, 

"  How  he  ftould  worfhip'd  be,  and  reve* 

"  renc'd, 

"  Ride  with  his  furres  and  foot-clothes  j  wait* 
<c  ed  on 

I  **'  By  herds  of  fooles  and  clients;    have  cleere 

"  way 
"  Made  for  his  Mcyle>  as  letter'd  as  himfelfe. 

And  this  explains  a  paflfage  in  Every  Man  out 
efbis  Humour 9  Ad  IL  Sc.  III. 

"  CAR.    Well,  make  much  of  him;   I  fee 
**  he  was  never  borne  to  ride  upon  a  Moile. 

f.'e.  To  become  a  Sargeant,  or  a  great  Lawyer. 
And  this  will  fling  a  light  on  a  paflage  in 
CHAUCER'S  character  of  the  Sargeant  at  Law, 

^.T:    «Ot  "Ol'V't  li; 

.jr>M  ]^&  rode  te  homely  in  a  Medly  cote. 

But  bomefy,  confidering  the  dignity  he  rode  with 
at  other  times,  on  his  Moyle  with  his  foot- 
clothes,  and  trappings.  The  mentioning  the 
Lawyer's  Mule  naturally  leads  him  to  ridicule 
PYTHAGORAS'S  interdiction  of  eating  of  beans. 

Ibid. 

"  VOLP.  Who's  that  I  away,  looke  MOSCA. 
Mos.  Foole,  begone, 

2  "  'Tis 


j6  REMARKS    07* 

**  *Tis  Signior  VOLTORE  the  advocate 

"  I  know  him  by  his  knock. 

The  interlude  is  interrupted  by  a  knocking -at 
the  door:  VOLPONE  expe&ed  vifits  from  thofe 
who  lay  in  wait  for  his  eftate ;  and  prepares 
himfelf  to  receive  them.  But  there  is  an  error 
in  the  printed  books^  and  we  fhould  thus  di* 
ftinguifti  the  fpeakers . 

«•  VOLP.  Who's  that?   away  looke  MOSCA. 
*«  Fook^  begone. 

"  Mosc.  3Tis  Signior  VOLTORE* 
VOLPONE  bids  MOSCA  goe  and  fee  who  it  was 
that  knocked  at  the  door :  mean  time  he  bids 
the  Foole^  Dwarf \  &c.,  begone.  MOSCA  liften- 
ing,  tells  him  he  knows  *twas  the  advocate 
VOLTORE  by  his  knock. — The  alteration  be- 
fpeaks  itfelf.  Nor  is  it  an  unufual  thing  for  the 
fpeakers  names  to  be  wrongly  ordered,  through 
the  blunders  of  printers,  or  tranfcribers  for  the 
prefs.  To  inftance  in  a  pafTage,  or  two,  of  our 
poet.  In  Catiline  Act  5. 

"  CICERO.  What  do  you  decree  to  th'  AL- 

"  LOBROGES, 

<c  That  were  the  lights  to  this  difcovery  ? 
"  CRASSUS.  A  free  grant  from  the  ftate  of 

"  all  their  fuits. 

«. 

C^SAR. 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  17 

"  CAESAR.  And  a  reward  out  of  the  public k 

"  treafure. 
"  CATO.   I,  and  the  title  of  honeft  men  to 

tc  crown  'hem. 

"  CICERO.  What  to  VOLTURTIUS  ? 
"  C/ESAR.  Life,  and  favour's  well,*, 
"  VOLTURTIUS.  I  alke  no  more. 
Now  'tis  plain  the  fpeeches  fhould  thus  be  di- 
ftinguifhed  : 

"  CICERO.  What  to  VOLTURTIUS  ? 

CAESAR.    Life  and  favours. 

"  VOLTURTIUS.  Well, 
u  I  a(k  no  more. 

CICERO  in  L.  Catilin.  Orat.  IV.  Poftremo  le- 
ft erno  die  fr^mta  legatis  Allobrogum^  Ti 'toque  Vul- 
turcio  dediftis  amplffima. 

And  in  Sejanus,  Acl:  III. 

"  Noble  CORDUS, 

"  I  wifh  thee  good :   Be,  as  thy  writings,  free, 
"  And  honeft:  TIB.  What  is  he  ?     SEJ.    For 
"  th*  Annals,  CAESAR. 

It  fhould  thus  be  read, 

«  TIB.   What  is  he  for?     SEJ.  Th'  annals, 
"  C^SAR. 

;'.  e.  What  is  he  accufed  for  ? — But  to  return. 
C  Ibid. 


i  8  REMARKS  0# 

Ibid. 

44  How  now  ?  the  newes  ? 
"  Mos.    A  piece  of  plate,   Sir,    VOL.  Of 

"  what  bigndTe  ?     Mosc.  Huge, 
"  Mafiie,  and  antique,    with  your  name  in- 

44  fcrib'd, 
44  And  arms  ingraven,    VOL.    Good!    and 

"  not  a  Fox 
44  Stretcht  on  the  Earth,  with  fine  DELUSIVE 

44  SLEIGHTS 
44  MOCKING  A  GAPING  CROW  ? 

HORACE  has  a  whole  Satyre  written  to  ridi- 
cule the  Heredipctte  of  the  age,  the  very  intent 
of  this  play  ;  in  his  Satyre  he  has  the  feme  allu- 
fion,  with  our  poet,  to  the  jEfofic  Fable  of 
the  Crow  find  the  Fox. 

c c . Pkrumque  recoffus 

u  Scriba  ex  quinqueviro  CORVUM  DELUDET 

4C    HIANTEM. 

The  fame  allufion  we  meet  with  in  A<5t  V.  Sc. 
VIII. 

46  VOL  P.  Me  thinks, 

44  Yet  you,  that  are  fo  traded  i'the  world, 
"  A  witty  merchant,  the  fine  bird,   CORVINO, 
"  That  have  fuch  mortal  emblems  on  your  name, 

44  Should 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  19 

c*  Should  not  have  fung  your  fbame  •,  and  dropt 

"  your  cheefe, 
"  To  let  the  FOXE  laugh  at  your  emptinefs. 

This  paffage  wants  a  little  correction,  for  in- 
ftead  of  MORTAL  emblemes^  we  muft  reaft,  MO- 
RAL Embkmes.  Every  Fable  has  its  Moral 

Ibid. 

"  Hood  an  Afs  with  reverend  purple, 
*'  So  you  can  hide  his  two  ambitious  eares, 
*c  And  hee  mall  pafTe  for  a  cathedrall  Doctor. 

This  is  true  Satyre,  and  very  elegantly  exprefled. 
-^-Ambitious  is  uied  according  to  its  original 
meaning  in  the  Latin  Language. 

Aft  I.  Sc.  III. 

"  Mosc.  I  doe  befeech  you,    Sir,  you  will 

"  vouchfafe 
**  To  write  me  if  your  family. 

This  is  a  latin  manner  of  cxprefllpn  borrowed 
from  HORACE.  L.  I.  Ep.  IX. 

Scribe  tui  gregis  bunc. 

Ibid. 
" ^Mosc.  Your  defcrt,  Sir ; 


20  REMARKS  on 

"  I  know  no  fecond  caufe.    VOL.   Thy  mo- 

"  defty 

"  Is  loth  to  KNOW  it. 

i .  e.  to  acknowledge  it,  to  make  it  known.  So  in 
SHAKESPEARE'S  Tempe/l,  Act  I.  where  PROSPE- 
RO  fpeaks  to  CALIBAN  : 

"  When  thoa  didft  not,  Savage, 
"  KNOW  thy  own  meaning,but  would*  ft  gab- 

"  ble  like 
"  A  thing  mofl  brutifh.,  1  endow'd  thy  pur- 

et  pofes 

"  With  words  to  make  them  known, 
i.  e.  didft  not  make  thy  own   meaning  known, . 
caufe  it  to  be  known.  The  late  editors  here,  not 
underftanding  him,  alter  SHAKESPEARE'S  words. 

Ibid: 

"  Mosc.  Keepe  you  ftill,  Sir. 
'c  Here  is  CORBACCIO.    VOLP.  Set  the  plate 

"  away, 
cc  The  vulture's  gone,    and  the  old  raven's 

^  come ! 
u  Mosc.    Betake  you  to  your  filence,    and 

your  fleepe : 
Stand  there  and  multiply. 

'•The  old  raven—rCorlactio^  in  Italian,  fignifies 

an 


cc 
cc 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  21 

an  old  raven.  There  mould  be  a  full  ftop  after 
p._  Stand  there  and  multiply  —  He  fpeaks 
to  the  plate  as  he  is  fetting  it  away.  —  In  allufion 
to  the  name  Corbaccio,  MOSCA  fays,  in  the 
next  fcene-  -  Rook  go  with  you,  raven,  i,  e.  you 
raven  may  you  be  rooked,  cheated. 

J»H 

Aft  I.   Sc.IV. 

"  Mosc.  Alas,  Sir,  I  but  doe,  as  I  am  taught; 
Ct  Follow  your  grave  inftru&ions  ;  give  'hem 

"  words; 
"  Powre  oyle  into  their  eares  :  and  fend  them 

"  hence. 

Give  them  ^ords  —  do  verba,    as  in  HORACE, 
Lib.  i.  S.  3. 

"  an  ut  ignotum  dare  nob  is 


Pour  oilinto  their  ears,  i.  e.  give  them  pleafant 
and  foft  words,  as  fmooth  as  oil  ;  fallacious  and 
deceitful,  rather  than  what  are  true  and  whole  - 
ibme  :  for  truth  is  grating  to  the  ear,  as  the 
Stoic  obferves  : 

"  Sed  quid  opus  teneras  mordaci  radere  vero 
"  Auriculas?  Perf.  I,    107. 

Smooth  as  oil  is  an  exprefllon  ufedby  PLATO  in 
C  3 


22  REMARKS  #fto 

fbiatetus  [p.  144.  Edit.  Stepb.]  oTov 
'PEfMA  'A¥0$HTf  'PE'ONTOS,  which  Serra- 
nus  renders,  lanquam  Eleii  alveus  cum  facefecun- 
doqueflumine  labens.  I  cannot  help  taking  notice 
that  the  pompous  rhetorician^  who  to  do  him 
juftice  is  not  oftentimes  without  his  elegancies, 
has,  with  great  beauty  and  propriety,  when 
fpeaking  of  PLATO,  borrowed  this  image  and 
the  very  words  from  him  :  an  puloi  o  nxaroju 
(liwwwpi  y*$  rourif  T»VI  XET'MATI  [leg.  psu>o3t] 

*A^^O>HTIX  WnN.  [LoNGiNus.  Seft.  XIIL] 
The  allufion  requires  'PET'MATI,  and  if  we  have 
any  ears  we  may  plainly  perceive  how  preferable 

this  reading  is. 

•^  '  >,"':*•;?   i^-%biij  ;*4>y  -v.,'  /> 

Aai.  Sc.v. 

"  The  weeping  of  an  heire  fhould  ftill  be 

<e  laughter, 
"  Under  a  vifor. 

Hxredis  fletus  fub  ferjona  rlfus  eft.  Aull.  Gelli- 
us,  XVII.      , 


**  And  fent  home  others 
"  Nothing  bequeath'd  them  but  to  cry,  and 

w  curfe. 

This  is  from  HORACE'S  Satyre  above  mention- 
ed, to  which  our  poet  is  fo  much  indebted. 

2  "  Invt- 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  23 

•*"**  hvenietque 
"  Niljtbi  kgatum*  prater  plorare,  fuifque. 

Ibid. 

*«  CORV.  Has  hee  children  ?   Mos.  Ba- 

"  ftards, 
**  Some  dozen  or  more,  that  hee  begot  on 

"  beggers 
"  Gypfies  and  Jewes  and  black- moores,  when 

"  hee  was  drunk. 
cc  Knew  you  not  that,  Sir  ?  'Tis  the  common 

"  fable. 

"  The  Dwarf e,  the  Foole,    the  Eunuch    are 
**  all  his; 

**  H'lS  THE  TRUE  FATHIR  OF  HIS  FAMILY. 

This  paffage  is  clofely  imitated  from  MARTI- 
AL, L.  I.  Ep.  85. 

"  De  SfyirinaU. 

<c  Uxorem  habendam  non  putat  QuirinaliS) 
*c  Cum  *vult  babereflios,  et  invent  t 
*'  Quo  poffit  iftud  more,  futuit  ancillas,  ' 
"  Domumque  et  agros  impkt  equitibus  vernis. 
**  PATER  FAMILI^  VERUS  EST  QUIRINALIS. 

Ibid. 

•'  "Would  you  would  once  cjofe 
C4 


24  REMARKS  on$\r 

4<  Thofe  filthy  eyes  of  yours,  that  flow  with 

"  flime, 
"  Like  two  frog-pits  ;   and  thofe  fame  hang- 

"  ing  cheeks, 
u  Covered  with  hide  inftead  of  fkin,    (nay, 

"  help,  Sir) 
"  That  looke  like  frozen  difh-clouts,  fet  on 

"  end. 

<Tbofe  fame  hanging  cheeks  —  From  JUVENAL,  Sat. 
X.  193. 

..  ^.^  .  ~o:>  Lt  .!..  ^  :-r.t  ^  n  ;t-5     nfti.;-  ^' 

•  -  deformem  fro  cutefellem^ 
Pendentefque  genas. 

'Nay*  help,  Sir.  -  i.  e.  help  me  to  rail,  and 
abufe  VOL  PONE.  So  the  paffage  is  to  be  under- 
ftood  in  the  Akhymift,  Aft  I.  Sc.  I.  "  DOL. 
Your  Sol,  and  Luna.  —  HELP  ME.  And  in  the 
Silent  Woman*  Aft  III.  Sc.  V.  "  TRU.  Eat 
car-wax,  Sir.  I'LL  HELPE  YOU. 

Ad  II.    Sc.   I. 

"  Fellowes  of  outfide,  and  meerbark. 


LONGINUS  Se(^l  III.   Spumofum 

CORTICE  PINGUI.       PfiRSIUS. 


Ibid. 


VOL  PON  E  or  the  Fox.  2  5 

Ibid. 

"  Mosc.  Under  that  windore,   there't  muft 

"  be.     The  fame. 
"  POLL.  Fellowes,  to  mount  a  banket 

Fellows  to  mount  a  bank ! plainly  alluding  to 

the  etymology  of  a  MOUNTEBANK.  ItaL  Mon- 
tar  in  banco.  So  prefently  after,  "  I  who  was 
"  ever  wont  to  fix  my  BANK  in  face  of  the  pub- 

"  lick  piazza,  &c. This  whole  Epifode  of 

Sir  POLITIQUE  WOULDBEE  never  did,  nor  ever 
can  pleafe.  He  feems  to  be  brought  in  meerly 
to  lengthen  out  the  play.  Perhaps  too  'tis  par- 
ticular fatyre. 

Ibid. 

c<  Thefe  turdy-facy-nafty-paty-loufi-farcicall 
"  rogues,  with  one  poore  groats  worth  of  un- 
"  prepared  antimony  &c. 

VOL  PONE  perfonates  a  mountebank,  in  order 
to  get  to  the  fight  and  fpeech  of  CORVINO'S 
wife  •,  he  accordingly  makes  an  oration  in  imi- 
tation of  thefe  quacks  under  her  window.  Our 
poet  has  here  put  into  his  mouth  a  long  com- 
pounded word  after  the  manner  of  ARISTOPHA- 
NES, who  has  many  of  the  like  kind  to  banter 

the 


. 


26  REMARKS  o#>V 

the  Dithyrambic  poets  :  HORACE  calls,  them  no- 

va verba  : 

"  Sen  per  audaces  NOVA  dithyramlos 
"  VE  R  B  A  devofoit)   mimerifque  fertttr 
Lege  folutis. 

I  believe  the  learned  reader  will  not  be  difpleafed, 
if  I  here  take  occafion  to  fhew  an  allufion,  not 
obvious  at  firft  perhaps  to  every  kind  of  reader, 
to  ARISTOPHANES,  by  our  poet  The  paffage 
I  mean  is  in  Bartholmew  Fayre^  Act  III.  where 
the  hypocrite  BUSY  is  fcenting  like  a  hound  af- 
ter a  roafted  pig  :  "  Therefore  be  bold,  huh, 
huh,  hu^  follow  the  fcent."  The  very  fame 
we  may  find  in  the  Plutus  of  ARISTOPHANES, 
A6b  IV.  Sc.  III.  where  the  fychophant  fcents  in 
like  manner  the  good  dinner  preparing  within  : 


IIoXu  %p*)jw,« 


v  v   v  v    T'?    's*'?    vr    •»••»• 

u  u    u  u    uu    u  u    u  u    uu. 


On  which  paffage  Vossius  has  a  very  juft  re- 
mark ;  which  I  (hall  cite  from  the  late  learned 
editor  of  DIONYSIUS  HALicARNSsEusDtf/m1- 
tura  Oratlonis :  in  p.  96  he  is  fpeaking  of  the 
found  and  power  of  the  vowels,  *Er»v  $1 5Mov  T»- 
T»  ro  u.  "  Infimum  dignitatis  gradum  tenet  v  voca- 

«  Us: 


VOLPONE  or  the  Fo*.  27 

"  Us :  non  obfcurum  tantum,  fed  et  fedum  et  im- 
«'  pur  urn  ut  plurimum  efficit  fonum,  cum  naribus 
* c  fotius  quam  ore  prof  era  fur.  Lepidt  itaqut  AR  i  - 
"  STOPHANES  in  Pluto  inducit  Sycophantam  olfa~ 
"  cientem  facrificiorum  nidorem^  qui  totttm  fcnari- 
"  um  naribus  abfofoit^ 


3J,  JS. 


,       , 


notandum  priorem  cujufque  pedisjytta- 
bamfcribi  debere  fpiritu  tenui,  fequenti  verb  den- 
fe*  ipfd  id  exigente  rei  natura.  Vossius. 

Aft  II.  Sc.  IV. 
VOLPONE,  MOSCA. 

"  O  I  am  wounded.     Mos.  Where,   Sir? 
"  VOL.  Not  without  ; 

<(  Thofc  blowes  were  nothing:  I  could  beare 

"  them  ever. 

<l  But  angry  Cupid^  bolting  from  her  eyes, 
"  Hath  fhot  himfelfe  into  me,   like  a  flame  ; 
"  Where  now  he  flings  about  his  burning 

"  heat, 

"  As  in  a  fornace,  fome  ambitious  fire, 
4<  Whofe  vent  is  ftopt.     THE  FIGHT  is  ALL 

"  WITHIN  ME. 

This  paffage  is  greatly  improved  from  a  like 

thought 


s8  RE  MAR  K  s  "en 

thought  printed  among  thofe  poems  which  are 
afcribed  to  ANACREON.  Od.  XIV. 


sv  es  jgXt/xvo 

$1   Xtt^/t]?  |(A 

t\v<rs. 


MA'XHS  "Ein  M'  '£XOT/SH2  •, 

deinde  feipfum  project  f  in  modum  teti  :  mediufquc 
cordis  mei  penetravit  et  mejohit.  Frujlra  itaque 
habeo  fcutum  j  quid  enim  muniamur  extra,  bello  in- 
tus  me  exercente  ?  SHAKESPEARE  has  likewife 
imitated  this  poem  in  Troilus  and  Creffida^  A6t 
I.  Sc.  I. 

"  Call  here  my  varlet  ;  I'll  unarm  again. 
"  Why  fhould  I  war  without  the  walls  of 

"  Troy, 
"  That  find  fuch  cruel  battle  here  within  ? 

The  allufion  here  was  not  concealed  from  Mr. 
THEOBALD  :  who  thus  renders  it, 

Fruftra  gero  clypeum 

Quid  enim  [ilium]  extrinfecus  objiciamy 

Cumpugna  intus  omnino  ardeat? 

And  then  adds,  "  The  tranflators  do  not  feem 

2  ««    CO 


VOL  PONE  or   the  Fox.  29 

«  to  have  remember'd,    that  jSaAXo^at  (as  its 

"   Compounds,  a/x(p»CaXXojtxat,  ETnSaAAojtxat,  7«rf^*- 

"  GaAAo/xai)  may  fometimes  fignify  adively, 
"  /W#0,  injiciO)  impono.  Authorities  are  fo  obvi- 
"  bus,  that  it  is  unneceffary  to  ailed  ge  any."  I 
have  no  edition,  at  prefent,  but  that  by  BARNES, 
who  in  his  note  fays  "  gfaare  nee  exponi  deberc 

[paXw^fOa]    PETAMUR,    aut  FERIAMUR,   VerUfJt 

ARM  EMU  R  ;  fiquidcm  itafepe  afnid  poet  as  fimpli- 
cia  qua  vocant,  pro  compofitis  ponantur"  Now 
I  will  fet  SHAKESPEARE'S  tranQation  againft 
them  all  -  WHY  SHOULD  1  WAR  WITHOUT. 
-  Ti'  yai%  ficihuptQ'  i£u  -  For  this  is  the 
meaning  of  the  phrafe,  quid  bcftem  petam^  wl 
quid  hoftem  ferire  aggrediar  extrx^  cum  hoflis  intus 
eft?  I  muft  beg  leave  by  way  of  criticifm  to* 
add  one  thing  more,  viz.  that  this  ode,  tho' 
feparated  from  Ode  XIII.  ought  to  have  been 
joined  to  it  thus, 


x.  r.   A. 


Ibid. 


30  REMARKS  0« 

Ibid. 

•ly.V 

"  VOLP.  I  did  it  well. 
"  Mos.  So  well,  would  I  could  follow  you 

*'  in  mine 
*c  With  halfe  the  happinefTe  j   and,  yet,  I 

66  would 
"  Efcape  your  Epilogue. 

If  lunderftand  this  pafTage  right,  MOSCA 
fpeaks  afide :  meaning,  he  hopes  to  impofe  on 
Him,  as  VOLPONE  had  impofed  on  others  in 
perfonating  a  mountebank. — The  audience  have 
hereby  (very  artfully  by  the  poet)  a  hint  given 
them  of  Mosc  A'S  charadter,  and  are  the  better 
prepared  for  what  follows. 

Ad  II.  Sc.  V 
CORVINO,  CELIA,  SERVITORE. 

"  Death  of  mine  honour,   with  the  citie's 

"  fool ; 
"  A  juggling,  tooth-drawing,  prating  moun- 

"  tebank  ? 
cc  And,  at  a  publick  windore  ?  where,  whilft 

"he, 
"  With  his  ftrainM  a<5lion,  and  HIS  DOLE  OF 

"  FACES, 

"To 


VOL  PONE  0r  the  Fox.  31 

*c  To  his  drug-le&ure  drawcs  your  itching 

M  eares, 

"  A  crew  of  old,  unmarried,    noted  lechers, 
"  Stood  leering  up,  like  Satyres. 

This  can  hardly  be  tortured  into  any  kind  of 
meaning.  But  the  poet  thus  originally  gave  it, 

"Where,  whilft  he, 

"  With  his  ftrain'd  a&ion,  and  HIS  DOLE  OF 
"  FAECES,   &c. 

A  true  picture  of  a  mountebank,  with  his 
ftrain'd  adion,  and  his  diftributing  his  FAECES, 
or  phyfical  dregs  to  the  multitude  Dole,  dvo  T* 
foAflV,  diftribuere  :  hence,  to  fctal  cJjarD*. 

Ibid. 

"  Get  you  a  citterne,  lady  Vanitie^ 

44  And  be  a  dealer,  with  the  virtuous  man. 

The  mountebanks  were  attended  with  rope- 
dancers,  and  wenches  that  plaied  on  the  cittern 
or  guitar  v  COR  VINO  bids  his  wife  to  follow  this 
mountebank,  this  virfuofo,  in  fuch  a  chara&er. 
But  why  does  he  call  her  Lady  Vanity  ?  'This  is 
an  allufion  to  the  old  plays  in  which  VANITY, 
the  VICE,  was  perfonalized,  and  acted  a  pan. 
This  will  appear  from  the  following  paflage,  in 

a  play 


3  fc  REMARKS   on 

.a  play  of  our  author's,  which  he  calls  The  D/- 
•uell  is  an  AJJe,  PUG  afks  SAT  AN  to  lend  him 
a  VICE. 


"SAT. 

What  kind  wouldft  th'  have  it  of? 

Why,  any  Fraud  ; 
Or  Covet  oufneffe  ;  or  lady  Vanity  ; 
Or  old  Iniquity  :  I'll  call  him  hither. 
Int.  What  is  he,    calls  upon  me,  and  would 

feeme  to  lack  a  Vice  ? 

This  paffage  is  very  wrongly  pointed  and  di- 
flinguifhed  :  after  this  manner  we  fhould  read 
it. 


"SAT. 

"  What  kind  wouldft  th'  have  it  of?     PUG. 

"  Why  any  :    Fraud^ 
Ct  Or  Covet  oufnejje  ;  or  Lady  VANITY  ; 
"  Or  old  Iniquity.     SAT.  I'll  call  him  hither. 

Enter  INIQUITY. 

INI.  What  is  he  calls  upon  me,    and  would 
feeme  to  lack  a  Vice  ? 

Hence  we  fee  the  meaning,  [in  SHAKESPEARE'S 
ift  part  of  K.  Henry  IV.]  of  Prince  HENRY'S 
calling  FALSTAFF,  VANITY  in  years.  This 

paflage 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  33 

paflage  feems  to  me  not  to  have  been  under- 
flood ;  nor  that  in  King  Lear,  Act  II.  "  KENT. 
«4  Draw,  you  rafcal;  you  come  with  letters 
"  againft  the  King ;  and  take  VANITY,  the 
"  puppet's  part,  againft  the  royalty  of  her  fa- 
"  ther." — But  fomething  of  this  has  been  iaid 
elfewhere. 

Act  II.  Sc.  VI. 

" Sweare  it  was 

*"  On  the  firft  hearing,    as  thou  maift  doe 
"  truely, 

"  MlNE  OWN  FREE  MOTION. 

This  Epifode  of  CORVINO'S  offering  to  profti- 
tute  his  wife  to  VOL  PONE,  is  borrowed  from 
HORACE,  L.  II.  S.  V. 

«• • — Scortator  erit?    CAVE  TE  RQGET  j 

<6  ULTRO 

"  Penelopenfacilispotiori  trade. 

A  little  before  CORVINO,  being  told  that  the 
Phyfician  had  made  an  offer  of  his  daughter,  calls 
him  Ci  wretch!  covetous  wretch!"  How  fine- 
ly is  it  imagined  by  our  Poet,  to  make  COR- 
VINO fee  the  bafely  covetous  character  of  the 
Phyfician,  and  yet  be  fo  ftrangely  ignorant  of 

D  his 


34  REMARKS    0# 

his  own  !    this  is  an  inftance  of  our  comedians 

great  infightxinto  the  chara&ers  of  mankind. 

*  Aft  II.  Sc.  VII. 

"  Doe  not  I  know,  if  women  have  a  will, 
"  They'le  doe  'gainft  all  the  watches  of  the 
"  world  ? 

'fhvfll  DOE The  word  is  ufed  in  an  obfcene 

fenfe:  as  FACERE&  AGERE,  fometimes  among 
the  Latins,  &  •&OK'IV>.  among  the  Greeks.  Thus 
JON  SON  in  his  tranflation  of  fome  verfes  from 
PETRONIUS, 

"  DOING  a  filthy  pleafure  is  and  fhort. 
"  Fee  da  eft  in  coitu  et  brevis  voluptas. 

Hence  we  may  correct  and  explain  a  paffage  in 
SHAKESPEARE'S  Taming  of  the  Shrew.  A6b  II. 

"  PET.  Oh,  pardon  me,    Signior  Gremio^    I 

Ci  would  fain  be  doing. 
"  GREM.  I  doubt  it  not,    Sir,    but  you'll 

"  curfe  your  wooing. 

I  could  mention  other  places  in  our  old  po- 
ets, where  this  word  TO  DOE  is  thus  ufed:  and 
-many  pafTages  there  are  in  the  Erotic  writers  of 
antiquity  where  FACERE,  AGERE,  -&OMV,  are 
mifunderflood  by  the  editors  of  thofe  writers. 

—But 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  35 

—  But  I  have  faid  enough  already  to  my  learn- 
ed readers,  and  too  much  to  the  unlearned. 

A<5t  III.  Sc.  I. 

"  O!  your  parafite 
"  Is  a  moil  precious  thing,   DROPT  FROM 

«'    ABOVE. 

This  is  from  LUCIAN'S  treatife  de 
xj  aurrj   [viz.  •nra£a<n1i>«i  ri^vrt]   rm  potgoi, 


Ibid. 

«  Make  their  revenue  out  of  legs  and  faces, 
"  Eccho  my  Lord,  and  lick  away  a  moath. 

This  part  of  Flattery,    <c  Eccbo  my  Lord"  he 
thus  dilates  on  in  his  Sejanus.     Act.  I.  Sc.  I. 

<c  Laugh  when  their  Patron  laughs  ;   fweat, 

"  when  he  fweats  ; 
<c  Be  hot,  and  cold  with  him;  change  every 

"  mood, 

"  Habit  and  garbe,    as  often  as  he  varies  -, 
<c  Obferve  him,    as  his  watch  obferves  his 

"  clock  ; 

«*  And  true,  asturkife  in  the  deare  lords  ring, 
"  Looke  well,   or  ill  with  him  :   ready  to 

"  praife, 

D2  "His 


3  6  R  E  M  A  R  K  s  on 

*'  His  lordfbip,  if  he  fpit,  or  but  pifle  faire, 
*'  Have  an  indifferent  ftoole,   or  break  wind 

"  well ; 
**  Nothing  can  fcape  their  catch. 

Which  is  plainly   imitated  from   the  follow- 
ing verfes  of  JUVENAL,  Sat.  Ill,  100. 

"— — Rides?  majore  cachinno 
"  Concutitur :    flet,    fi   lacrymas   confpexit 

"  amici, 
**  Nee  dolet :    igniculum  brumse  fi  temporc 

"  pofces, 
"  Accipit  endromedem ,    fi  dixeris,    asftuo, 

c«  fudat. 
"  Non  fumus  ergo  pares  *,  melior  qui  femper 

"  et  omni 
c<  Nocte,  dieque  poteft  alienum  fumere  vul- 

"  turn, 

4<  A  facie  jadtare  manus,  laudare  paratus 
*'  Si  bene  ru&avit,  fi  redtum'  minxit  amicus. 
This  ECCHOING  MY- LORD  is  very  prettily  ma- 
naged in  SHAKESPEARE'S  Hamlet.  Act  V. 

"  HAMLET.  Your  bonnet  to  his  right  ufe: 

"  'tis  for  the  head. 

"  OSR.  I  thank  your  lordiliip,  'tis  very  hot, 
"  HAM.  No,  believe  me,  V/V  very  cold;   the 

**  wind  is  notherly. 

<c  CSR. 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  37 

"  OSR.  It  is,  indifferent,  cold,  my  lord,  in- 

"  deed. 
"  HAM.  But  yet,  methinks,  //  is  veryfultry, 

"  and  hot  for 
"  My  complexion. 
"  OSR.  Exceedingly,  my  lord,    //  is.yeryful- 

"  try,  as  'twere  I  cannot  tell  how. 

GNATHO  in  the  Eunuch  of  TERENCE. 

<c  Quicquid  dicunt,  kudo :    id  rurfumji  negant, 

*'  laudo  id  quoque. 
<c  Negat  quis  ?  nego.  ait  ?  aio. 

That  other  inflance  of  flattery «'  and  lick 

**  away  a  MOTH."  Is  an  allufion  to  fuch  officious 
kind  of  parafites,  who  are  called  in  Low  Dutch 
plUEme^flTUCfcer,  qui  plumas  pitofque  ex  vejtibus 
affentatorie  legit.  A  PLUME  STRIKER.  In  Greek 
it  is  called,  x£ox^/£nv,  OVID  advifes  the  lover  to 
try  this  piece  of  flattery  towards  the  woman,  he 
would  gain : 

Utque  ft,  in  gremiumpulvis  Ji forte  puetlae 

Deciderit,  digitis  excutiendus  erit. 
Et,  Ji  nullus  erit  puhis,   tamen  excute  nullujn* 
Quaelibet  officio  caufajit  apta  tuo. 

Mention  too  is  made  of  this  kind  of  flattery  in 
the  characters  of  THEOPHRASTUS. 

D  3  Aft 


£g.  REMARKS  on 

Aft  III.  Sc.  IV. 
LADY,  VOLPONE,  NANO,  WOMEN,  2. 

"  In  good  faith,  I  am  dreft 
c<  Moft favorably  today,  it  is  no  matter, 
"  'Tis  well  enough.  Look,  fee,  thefe  petu- 

"  lant  things ! 
"  How  they  have  done  this !    VOLP.    I  doe 

<c  feele  the  fever 

"  Entring  in  at  my  eares ;  O  for  a  charme, 
"  To  fright  it  hence.    LAD.  Come  neerer  : 

"  is  this  curie 
"  In  his  right  place?  or  this  ?  WHY  is  THIS 

**  HIGHER 

*'  THAN  ALL  THE  REST  ?  You  ha'not  wafh'd 

<e  your  eyes  yet  ? 

"  Or  doe  they  not  ftand  even  in  your  head  ? 
*'  Where's  your  fellow  ?  call  her.  NAN.  Now, 

"  St.  Marke 

"  Deliver  us ;  anon,  fliee'll  beat  her  women 
"  BECAUSE  HER  NOSE  is  RED.     LAD.  I  pray 

tc*you,  view 
"  This  tire,  forfooth  :  are  all  things  apt,  or 

"  no  ? 
"WoM.  One  haire  a  little,  here,  flicks  out, 

«  forfooth. 

"  LAD. 


VOL  PON  E  or  the  Fox.  3  9 

"LAD.  DoYtfo,  forfooth?  &c. 

Lady  Wouldbee  vifits  the  fick  VOL  PONE  (as  he 
pretends  to  be)  in  his  chamber  \  fhe  is  fetting 
her  drefs  in  order, 

«  I  am  dreft 
"  Moft  favorably  to  day  !    It  is  no  matter, 

"  'Tis  well  enough. 

•  •< 
So  it  fhould  be  (lopped  ;  fhe  fpeaks  ironically : 

otherwife  *tis  no  better  than  nonfenfe.  Then 
fhe  corrects  herfelf  and  adds  "  //  is  no  mat- 
"  ter  &c.?>  Afterwards  fhe  takes  her  maids  to 
tafk  about  her  head  drefs ;  and  here  our  learned 
poet  plainly  has  JUVENAL  in  view.  Sat.  VI, 
486. 

"  Namfi  conftttmf,  folitoque  decent  ius  opt  at 
"  Ornari ;  et  froperat^  jamque  txpeftatur  in 

««  forth, 

c<  diitapudlfiacacpotiusfacraria  knae\ 
"  Componit  crinem  laceratis  ipfa  capillis, 
"  N*da  burner os  Pfecas  infelixy  nudifque  ma- 

<«  minis. 
<c  ALTIOR  HIC  QUARE  CINCINNUS  ?    taur£& 

"  punit 
ic  Continue  flexi  crimtn^  facinufaue  capillL 

D  4  * 


40  REMARKS  on 

<c  QuidPfecas  admifit?  quaenam  eft  Me  culpa 
"puellae, 

^  Si  TIBI  DI8PLICUIT  NASUS  TUUS  ? 

JUVENAL  mentions  foon  after  the  counfels  cak 
led  to  confult  on  the  lady's  drafting,  as  if  her 
charafter  and  foul  were  concerned  in  the  deter- 
mination, 

" ta*fuu*fam*  difcrimen  agatur^ 

fc  Ait  anim*. 

"  Call'd   you    to   counfel   of    fo   frequent 

*'  dreflings, — 
"  (NAN.  More  carefully,  th^nof  your  fame 

"  or  honour.) 

JUVENAL'S  thoughts  are  frequently  introdu- 
ced in  our  poet's  works.  And  hence  I  will  cor* 
rec"t  a  pafTage  in  Catiline,  Aft  HI,.  ^  ., 

" — — Promife  'hem  ftates  and  empires, 
«c  And  men,  for  lovers,  made  of  better  clay, 
"  Than  ever  the  old  PORTER  Titan  knew. 

The  HOURS,  not  TITAN,  were  Heaven's  POR- 
TERS :  but  (without  more  words)  inftead  of 
PORTER  we  mould  read  POTTER,  as  is  manifeft 
from  the  paffage  which  JONSON  had  in  view, 

** §>uil>us  arte  bemgna 

"  E  meliore  fatofinxit  frcscordia  Titan.    Juy. 
XJV,  35.  Ibid. 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  41 

Ibid. 

*'  Ay  mce,  I  have  tane  a  grafle-hopper  by 
4<  the  wing. 

So  again  in  an  apologetical  dialogue  at  the  end 
of  his  Poetajter: 

"  And  like  fo  many  fcreaming  grafie-hoppers, 
"  Held  by  the  wings,    fill  every  eare  with 
"  noife. 

This  was  a  proverb  of  the  poet  ARCHILOCHUS 
as  Luc i  AN  tells  us  in  the  beginning  of  his  Pfeu* 
dologifta^    TO  R  TK  A^iAop^v  UeTvo   Ufa  o-ot  AcTw, 
CTI  rrrltj/a  T«  TSTTf^S  <rui/fiXn^a?,    x.  T.  A.      For  the 

fatter  you  hold  them  by  the  wings,  the  louder 
they  fcream. — But  is  this  true  of  grafle-hoppers? 
Cicada  &  TrrJtg,  is  not  a  grajje-bopper,  for  the 
poets  defcribe  it  as  fitting  and  fmging  on  trees. 
However  the  common  tranflations  mutt  excufe 
our  poet. 

Ibid. 

VOLP.  The  poet, 

"  As  old  in  time  as  PLATO,  and  as  knowing, 
*'  Says  that  our  higheft  female  grace  is  (i- 
"  lence. 

The 


42  R  E  M  A  R  K  S    VJI 

The  poet,  viz.  SOPHOCLES. 


6r  EURIPIDES,    whom  the  <?rac7<?  pronounced 
the  wifer. 


yag  engrt,  n   TO 


^i*  .;     Heraclid.  ^  477. 
Aft.  'III.  Sc.  VI. 

<c  Have  patience,   Sir  ;   the  fame's  your  fa- 
"ther  knocks. 

trr         n.       j  'nats'id  a 
We  muft  read, 

"  -  -  The  fame's  your  father's  knock. 

This  knocking  you  now  hear  is  your  father's. 
Mosc  A  expe&ed  it  to  be  fo,  but  the  fequel  will 
Ihew  his  miftake. 

9*vA>»  *  rio  iiniOfiiV  fiiii"   Tcltf  Tf*)     '*"' 

Aa  m.  SC.VIL 

• 


cc  •  -  Prythee,  fweet; 
cs  (  Good  faith  )   thou  fhalt   have  jewels  , 

"  gownes,  attyres, 
<c  What  thou  wilt  think,  and  afke. 
CORVINO,  having  brought  his  wife  to  VOL  - 
PONE,  threatens  and  in  treats  her  ;   and  tries  all 
his  rhetoric  to  perfuade  her  to  yield  :    fhe  tells 
him  fhe'll  eat  burning  coals  frft,    like  PORCIA  : 

he 


VOL  PONE   or  the  Fox.  43 

he  then  threatens  her  as  TARQUIN  threatned  Lu- 
CRECE  —  /  will  buy  fome  Jlave  whom  I  will  kill% 
and  bind  tbee  to  him  alivs.  But  after  all  his 
terrible  threatenings  and  imprecations,  he  is  re- 
duced to  the  LAST  ARGUMENT,  promifes  of 
jewels,  and  fine  gownes  ;  if  thefe  cannot  pre- 
vail, nothing  can.  The  lady  continuing  obfti- 
nate,  he  calls  her 

"  An  errant  locuft,  by  heaven,  a  locuft.  Whore, 
*c  Crocodile,  that  haft  thy  teares  prepar'd, 
"  Expeding,   how  thou'lt  bid  'hem  flow. 

Thefe  verfes  fhould  thus  be  ordered  and  printed , 

"  An  errant  Locuft,  by  heaven  a  Locuft. 

"  Whore !    Crocodile  !  that   haft  thy  tears 

"  prepar'd, 
"  Expecting,  how  thou'lt  bid  'hem  flow  I 

Locuft,  is  not  the  mifchievous  infect  fo  named ; 
but,  if  I  underftand  our  learned  poet  right,  he 
calls  her  another  Locufta,  an  infamous  woman 
fkilful  in  poifoning,  who  afiifted  NERO  in  de- 
ftroying  BRITANNICUS,  and  AGRIPPINA  in 
poifoning  CLAUDIUS.  In  the  fame  fenfe  JUVE- 
NAL I,  71. 

"  Inftituitque  r  tides  melior  LOCUST  A  fropinquas. 

He  adds,    "  that  haft  thy  tears  &c."    this  is" 
j  imitated 


44  REMARKS    0# 

imitated  from  the  above-mentioned  fatyrift  IV, 

271. 

"  ^—Plorat 

<c  Uberibus  femper  lacrymis^  femper que  paratis 
*c  In  ftatione  fua+  atque  cxfpeffantibus  illam9 
<c  Quojubeat  manare  modo. 

SONG. 

Cotne>  my  CELIA  &c.]  This  and  the  following 
fong,  are  both  printed  in  our  poet's  FORREST; 
and  are  imitated  from  CATULLUS. 

Ibid. 

"  CEL.  Someferenc  blaft  mee,    or  dire  light- 

<c  ning  flrike 
46  This  my  offending  face.    J^ 

I  found  this  paflfage  thus  printed  in  a  modern 
edition, 

"Some  Siren  blaft  me. 

And  the  editor  hug'd  himfelf  with  thoughts  of 
this  emendation,  I  dare  fay.  But  the  poet  al- 
ludes to  a  difeafe  in  the  eye  called  by  phyfici- 
cians,  Gutta  fercna.  Hence  M  i  LT  o  N  is  to  be 
explained  : 

"  So  thick  a  dropyfora?  hath  quench'd  their 
*'  orbs, 

«  Or 


VOL  PONE  or   the  Fox.  45 

"  Or  dim  fuffufion  veild. 
Ibid. 

" See,  behold, 

"  What  thou  art  queen  of;  not  in  expe&ation, 
w  As  1  feed  others :  but  pofiefs'd  and  crpwn'd, 
"  See,  here,  a  rope  of  pearle ;  and  each,  more 

"  orient 
"  Than  that  the  brave  Egyptian  queen  car- 

"  rous'd : 

"  Diffblve  and  drink  'hem.  See,  a  carbuncle, 
"  May  put  out  both  the  eyes  of  our  St. 

tc  Marke : 
"  A  diamant,  would  have  brought  [r.  bought] 

<c  LOLLIA  PAULINA, 
"  When  fhee  came  in,    like  ftar-light  hid 

*'  with  jewels, 

"  That  were  the  fpoyles  of  provinces. 
The  flory  here  alluded  to  concerning  CLEO- 
PATRA is  well  known  :  the  other  concerning 
LOLLIA  PAULINA  is  from  PLINY  :  "  LOLLIA 
"  PAULINA,  qua  fuit  CAII  principis  matrona* 
"  ne  ferio  quidem,  aut  folemni  carimoniarum  ali- 
"  quo  apparatu^  fed  mcdiocrium  etia  m  f port  folium 
**  ccena^  vidi  fmaragdis  margaritifque  opertam, 
**  alterno  tcxtufulgentibus,  toto  capite,  erinibu^ 
"  fpira,  auribus^  collo*  monilibus,  digit ifque :  qua 
I  "  fa 


46  REMARKS  0# 

tc  fumma  quadringenties  H-  S.  colligebat :  ipfa 
"  confeftim  parata  mancupationem  tabulis  probare. 
"  Nee  dona  prodigi  principis  fuerant^  fed  twit* 

"    Opes,  PROVING  I  ARUM  SCILICET  SPOLIIS  PAR- 

"  TJE"  Lib.  IX.  3.  58.  See  likewife  TACI- 
TUS, L.  XII.  AnnaL  and  SUETONIUS. 

«•»»—  '•»••          -»-y-     •'    •*»»'•*>        ?     Jl  Jfcl  JV^     -.' 

Adtlll.  Sc.  VIIL 

cc  O  that  his  well  driv'n.  fword 
«c  Had  beene  io  covetous  to  have  cleft  me 

"  downe 
"  Unto  the  navill. 

5^  have  cleft  me  down  unto  the  wvil. — —This 
was  a  common  manner  of  expreflion*  fomewhat 
hyperbolical,  and  poetical,  rather  than  ftriftly 
true.  So  in  SE JANUS. 

* c  If  I  could  guefle  hee  had  but  fuc'h  a  thought, 
<c  My  fword  ihould  cleave  him  downe  from 
'ii(t;  «'c  head  to  heart': 

MILTON  HIMSELF  mates  ufe  of  the  exprefllon 
in  one  of  his  LATEST,  and  by  far  the  beft  of 
his  poems,  fpeaking  of  MOLOCH  :  VL  361. 
cc"  But  anon 

"  DOWN  CLOVEN  TO  THE  WASTE,  With  fliat- 

"  ter'd  arms 

u  And  uncouth  pain  fled  bellowing. 

Thus 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  47 

Thus  too  SPENCER  B.  2.  C.  8. 

46  Then  hurling  up  his  harmefull  blade  on  hy, 
"  Smote  him  fo  hugely  on  his  haughtie  creft 
c<  That  from  his  faddle  forced  him  to  fly : 
"  Els  mote  it  needes  downe  to  his  manly  breft. 
**  Have  cleft  his  head  in  twaine,  and  life 
41  thence  difpofleft. 

SHAKESPEARE  too  thus  exprefles  himfelf  in 
Coriolaws.  Aft  II. 

"  His  fword,  (death's  ftamp) 
"  Where  it  did  mark,  IT  TOOK  FROM  FACE 
"  TO  FOOT. 

And  in  MACBETH,  where  the  Captain  is  giving 
an  account  of  the  battle,  with  a  bombafl  circum- 
Jtance  horribly  fluff  with  epithets  of  war, 

*6  Who  ne'er  fhook  hands  nor  bid  farewell 

*c  to  him, 
<l  Till  he  unfeam'd  him  FROM  THE  NAVE  TO 

"  TH'  CHOPS. 

The  phrafeology  here  inclines  a  little  to  a  figure 
in  rhetoric  called  ur^ov  vforspv :  but  I'll  warrant 
it  for  SHAKESPEARE'S.  I  have  not  time,  nor 
inclination,  to  tranfcribe  the  long  note  upon  this 
paflageof  SHAKESPEARE,  printed  in  alate  edi- 
tion, but  refer  the  reader  at  his  leifure  to  per- 
ufe  it.  Ibid. 


48  REMARKS  on 

Ibid. 

"  Let's  die  like  Romans, 
et  Since  we  have  liv'd  like  Grecians. 

Pergracari  in  PL  AUT us  is  to  fpend  the  hours  in 
mirth,  wine,  and  banquets.  Hence  the  pro- 
verb, As  merry  as  a  Greek.  In  SHAKESPEARE'S 
Twelfth-Night,  Act  IV.  Sc.  I.  SEBASTIAN  calls 
the  clown  "  fooli/h  Greek,"  for  his  unfeafonable 
mirth.  This  I  mention,  reader,  left  thou 
again  Ihouldft  be  mifled. 

Act  IV.  Sc.  I. 

*6  Faith,  thefe  are  politique  notes!  POL. 
"  Sir,  I  doe  flip 

*•  No  action  of  my  life,  thus,  but  I  QUOTE  it. 
NOTE,  and  QUOTE  are  fynonymous  words.  Thus 
above, 

"  POL.  No,  this  is  my  diary ; 
"  Wherein  I  NOTE  my  actions  of  the  day. 

And  before,  Act  II.  Sc.  I. 

"  I  do  love 
u  To  NOTE,  and  to  obferve. 

This  in  the  beginning  of  the  fame  is  thus  ex- 
prefled. 

c<  But 


VOL  PONE  or  the  Fox.  49 

*c  But  a  peculiar  humour  of  my  wife's, 
<c  Laid  for  the  height  of  Venice,  to  obferue 
4-c  To  Q^JOTE  j  to  learn  the  languages,  and  fo 
"  forth. 

Let  us  now  confider  a  little  the  original  of  the 
word  :  and  SKINNER  here  will  afliftus''"  tjttofe. 
"  G.  quote.  It.  cotare,  citare  feu  laudare  autho- 
"  rem  libro  et  capite.  Quota  fmt  adnotatis, 
"  q.  d.  quotarc."  And  MINSHEU,  "  to  quote, 
"  w^r^,orNOTE,a  quotus.  Numeris  enim  fcri- 
*'  bentes  fententias  fuas  notant  et  diftinguunt." 
So  in  SHAKESPEARE'S  K.  JOHN,  Act  IV.  . 

— — "  Hadft  not  thou  been  by* 
"  A  fellow  by  the  hand  of  nature  mark'd, 
"  §)uotedi  and  fign'd  to  do  a  deed  of  fhame, 
"  This  murther  had  not  come  into  my  mind. 

HAMLET  Ad  II. 

"  POL.    I'm  forry,    that  with  better  fpeed 

"  and  judgment 
*'  I  had  not  quoted  him. 

The  laft  editor  fays  quoted  is  nonfenfe,   and  ac- 
cordingly has  altered  it  intonated. 


5° 


REMARKS   on 


Ad  IV.  Sc.  II. 


"  LADY.  Where  fhould  this  loofe  knight  be, 

"  trow?  fure,  he's  hous'd. 
"NAN.  Why,  then  he'sfa/l.     LAD.    I,  he 

"  playes  both  with  me. 

I.e.  both  faft  and  loofe. — 7,  for  yes,  imo,  ita, 
etiam;  and  fo  ufed perpetually  in  JONSON  ;  and 
SHAKESPEARE,  'till  altered  by  the  laft  editors. 

Aft.  IV.  Sc.  IV. 

"  Hang  him :  we  will  but  ufe  his  tongue,  his 

*c  noife, 
"  As  we  doe  croaker s^  here. 

I  read,  crackers^  i.  e.  fquibs. 

Ibid. 
"  But  you  fhail  eat  it :  MUCH  ! 

/.  e.  Much  good  may  it  doe  you,  Elliptically, 
and  ironically.  So  the  pafTage  is  to  be  explained 
and  flopped  in  Every  Man  out  cf  his  humour. 
Ad  I.  Sc.  III. 

"  Here's  a  device, 

"  To  charge  me  bring  my  graine  unto  the 
<c  markets : 


VoLPONfc   Qr  the  Fox.  51 

«*  I,  MUCHI    when  I  have  neither  barne  nor 

*c  garner, 
"  Nor  earth  to  hide  it  in,  I'll  bring  it; 

/,  much !  i.  e.  forfooth !  yes,  indeed,  much  good 
'twill  doe  me.  —  And  in  the  Akhemift^  Act  V 
Sc.  IV. 

•"  Much,  nephew,  malt  thou  win :  much  malt 

"  thou  fpend ; 
<c  Much  malt  thou  give  away  ;    much  fhalt 

<e  thou  lend. 
"  SURL.  I,  much!  indeed. 

So  the  place  is  to  be  pointed.   The  fame  ellipti- 
cal manner  of  expreflion  is  fome  where  or  other 

in  SHAKESPEARE,  but  the  pafTage  does  not  oc- 
cur. 

Ibid. 

"  Mercury  fit  upon  your  thundring  tongue, 
"  Or  the  French  Hercules. 

The  Gallic^  or  Celtic  HERCULES,  was  the  fym- 
bol  of  eloquence.  LUCIAN  has  a  treatife  on  this 
French  Hercules^  furnamed  OGMIUS  :  he  was 
pictured  old  and  wrinkled,  and  dreft  in  his  li- 
on's ikin ;  in  his  right  hand  he  hel^  his  club, 
in  his  left  his  bow :  feverai  very  fmall  chains 
were  figured  reaching  from  his  tongue  to  the 
ears  of  crowds  of  men  at  fome  diflance. — If  the 
E  2  reader 


5a  REMARKS  on 

reader  has  any  curiofity  to  know  more  of  this 
God  of  Eloquence  he  may,   at  his  leiiure,  confult 

LUC  JAN. 

A6t  IV.  Sc.  VI. 

• 

ct  What  horrid  ftrange  offence 
"  Did  he  commit  'gainft  nature,  in  his  youth, 
"  Worthy  this  age  ? 

From  JUVENAL,  X,  254. 

" Cur  baec  in  tern  for  a  durat^    : 

Quod f acinus  dignum  tarn  longo  admiferit  <evo  ? 


tc 


Ad  V.  Sc.  I. 

"  VOLP.  'Fore  God,    my  left  legge  'gan  to 

<c  have  the  crampe ; 
ct  And  I  apprehended  ftrait  fome  power  had 

"  ftruck  me 
"  With  a  dead  palfy. 

VOLPONE,  juft  efcaped  from  the  utmofl  peril, 
fays,  whilft  he  was  in  court  and  apprehenfive  of 
punimment, — my  left  legge  *gan  to  lavs  tie 
crampe :  Alluding  to  a  piece  of  ancient  fuperfli- 
tion,  that  all  fudden  conflernations  of  mind,  and 
fudden  pains  of  the  body,  fuch  as  crampes,  pal- 
pitations of  the  heart,  &c.  were  ominous,  and 
"i  prefages 


VOLPONE.  or  the  Fox.  55 

prefages  of  evil,  i  Hence  we  may  explain  a  paf- 
fage  in  PLAUTUS'S  Miles  Gloriofus. 

Sc  H  E  L  .  Timeo  quod  rerwn  gefferlm  hie,  it  a  dor- 
fus  totus  prurit. 

And  in  his  Bacchides  NICOBULUS  fa^s,  Cafut 
frurit,  perii. 

•  Aft  V.  Sc.  II. 

"  It  [£°M\  transformes 
*c  The  moft  deformed,     and  reflores  'hem 

"  lovely 
<c  As  'twere  the  flrange  poetical  girdle. 

This  is  literally  from  LUCIAN'S  treatife  intitled 
Gallus.  *O^ ois  o<ruv  «j/a9wv  o  p^^U(roN?  ot?Tio$,t'['yt  xj  JUE- 
TaTroter  T«?  dpoffiolfgvs  wcrTreg  *O  HOIHTIKO2  ixiivos 
KE2TO2.  Fides  quantas  commoditates  pariat  au- 
ruftty  fiquidem  deformcfijpmos  transfigurat^  reddit- 
que  amabilesy  non  fecus  atque  CESTUS  ilk  POETI- 
cus.  HOMER'S  defcription  of  VENUS'  girdle  is 
imitated  by  TASSO  in  Gierufalemme  Uberata.  C. 
XVI.  St.  25.  SPENCER  alludes  to  it.  B.  IViC. 
5.  St.  6. 

AclV.  Sc.IV. 

<4  'Twcre  a  rare  motion  to  be  feen  in  fleetftrect. 
E  3  MOTION, 


54  REJtfA&tfs  on 

MOTION,/,  e.  aw  puppet- fhe  w :  Icuncukrum  MQ* 
TIO  :  the  etymology  is  apparent.  So  in  the  Si* 
lent  Woman*  Aft  III.  Sc.  V.  "  Why  did  you 
"  think  you  had  married  a  flatue  ?  or  a  motion  ? 
w  one  of  the  French  puppets,  with  the  eyes 
,**  turned  with  a  wire  ? 

This  whole  fane  feems  to  me  impertinent,  and 
to  interrupt  the  ftpry.  See  above  p.  25. 

Aft'  V.  Sc.  VI. 

"  — -—  fiefe  comes  my  vulture 
*c  Heaving  his  beak  up  in  the  aireand  fnuffing, 

This  image  thus  concifely  expreffed,  MILTON 
has  finely  enlarged, 

/  o, 

"  So  faying,  with  delight  he/#«/Vthe  fmell 
<c  Of  mortal  change  on  earth.    As  when  a 

"  flock 
<c  Of  ravenous  fow!5  though  many  a  league 

46  remote, 

"  Againil  the  day  of  battle,  to  a  field 
"  Where  armies  lie  encamp'd,   come  flying, 

"  lur'd 

€c  With  fcent  of  living  carcafles,  defign'd 
*c  For  death  the  following  day,    in  bloody 

"  fight. 

5*  So  fcented  the  grim  feature,   and  upturn'd 

«  His 


VOL  PONE  flr  the  Fox.  55 

"  His  noftrils  wide  into  the  murky  air, 
*c  Sagacious  of  his  quarry  from  fo  far. 

AdtV.  Sc.  XII. 

"  VOLP.  Firft,  I'll  be  hanged.  Mosc. 
"  I  know 
"  Your  voice  is  good,  cry  not  fo  lowd. 

From  PLAUTUS'  Moflellaria.  _ 

<c  TR.  Scio.  tefana  effe  vocs%  m  clama  nimis. 


E4 


REMARKS 


56     REMARKS  on  EPICOENE-  or 

:.i      'iv/z!:  t 


REMARKS 

O   N 
EPICOENE;  or  The  SILENT  WOMAN. 


PROLOGUE. 

RUTH  fayes,  of  old  the  art  of  mak- 
ing playes 
"  Was  to  content  the  people. 

From  TERENCE  in  the  Prologue  to  the  Andrian% 

<e  Idfioi  negoti  credtdit  folum  dari^ 

"  Populo  ut  placerent,  quasfecijfetfabulas. 

lid  PROLOGUE. 

*c  And  ftill  'thath  beene  the  praife  of  all  beft 

<c  times, 
*'  So  perfons  were  not  touch'd,   to  tax  the 

"  crimes. 

So  in  his  Apologetlcal  dialogue  at  the  end  of  the 
Poet  after: 


SILENT  WOMAN.         57 

44 My  bookes  have  ftili  beene  taught 

44  To  fpare  the  perfons,  and  to  fpeak  the  vices. 

From  MARTIAL, 

Huncfervare  modum  noftrl  novere  libelliy 
Parcere  per  fonts,  die  ere  de  vitiis. 

Lib.  X.  Ep.  33. 

Ad  I.  Sc.  I. 

CLERJMONT  is  difcovered  in  his  chamber  dref- 
fing  himfelf,  his  boy  being  prefent.     After  the 

boy  has  ended  his  fong,  TRUE  WIT  enters 

"  Well,    Sir  gallant,  were  you  ftruck  with  the 
"  plague  this  minute  ?" 

This  is  fuppofed  to  be  tranfa&ed  during  the 
$la$ue  at  LONDON.  So  again  below,  "  But  now 
41  by  reafon  of  the  ficknefTe,  &c. 

Ibid. 
SONG. 

44  Still  to  be  neat,  ftill  to  be  dreft, 

<c  As  you  were  going  to  a  feaft  ; 

44  Still  to  bee  poudred,  ftill  perfum'd  : 

"  Lady,  it  is  to  be  prefum'd, 

46  Though  art's  hid  caufes  are  not  found, 

f c  All  is  not  fweet,  all  is  not  found. 

44  Give 


REMARKS  0«EpicoENE;  or 

<c  Give  me  a  look,  give  me  a  face, 
<e  That  makes  fimplicity  a  grace  ; 
"  Robes  loofely  flowing,  hayre  as  free: 
*'  Such  fweet  neglect  more  taketh  me, 
"  Than  all  th*  adulteries  of  art; 
"  They  ftrike  mine  eyes,  but  not  my  heart. 

Thisfong  is  very  happily  imitated  from  the  fol- 
lowing poem,  which  I  found  printed  at  the  end 
of  an  edition  of  .PETRONIUS:  the  verfes  there 
printed  are  known  to  the  learned  by  the  title  of 
Prtapeia  carmina. 

Semper  munditias*  femper,  BaflUfca9  decores, 

Semper  compojitas  arte  decente  comas, 
Et  cawptos  femper  vultus,  unguent aque  femper^ 

Omnia  follicita  campta  videre  manu* 
amo.   Ncgleftim  mihi  fe  qua  emit  arnica 

St  det  -,  ei  ornaiusjimplicitate  valet. 
Vincula  ne  cures  capitis  difcujja  foluti, 

Nee  ceram  infaciem :  mel  habet  illafuum. 
Finger e  fe  femper ',  non  eft  confidere  amort : 

Quid  quod  fiepe  decor ,  cumprohtbetur,  adefl? 

I  write  thefe  remarks  without  the  ufe  of  a  libra- 
ry to  confult  proper  books ;  otherwife  the  reader 
fhould  have  my  obfervations  on  fome  of  the 
paflages  in  this  poem,  which  I  think  faulty.  ., 

Ibid. 


NT  WOMAN.         59 


w  I  love  a  good  drefimg  before  any  beauty  o* 
**  the  world  :  O,  a  woman  is  then  like  a  deli- 
"  cate  garden,;  nor  is  there  one  kind  of.it  :  fhee 
"  may  vary  every  hour  ;  taker!  often  counfell 
"  of  her  glaffe,  and  chufe  the  bed.  If  lh.ee  have 
"  good  eares,  mow  'hem;  good  hayre,  lay  it 
"out;  good  legs,  weare  Ihort  cloathes;  a 
*'  good  hand,  dilcover  it  often,  &c. 

This  and  one  or  two  of  the  following  fpeethes 
are  imitated  from  OVID  [Art.  Am.  Lib.  III. 


"  Nor  is  there  one  kind  of  it"  viz.  dreffing. 

«  Nee  genus  ornatus  unum  efl  :  quod  quamque'de- 
"  cebit* 

"  Eligat  ;  et  fpeculum  confulat  antefuum. 
*c  Longa  probat  fades  capitis  difcriminapuri: 

"  Sic  erat  ornatis  Laodbmia  comis. 
"  Exiguumfumma  nodumjibi  fronte  relinquT9 

44  NE  pateant  aures,  or  a  rotunda  iiolwt. 

OVID,  in  his  advice  to  the  ladies  about  drefling, 
tells  them,  that  a  long  face  looks  beft  when  the 
hair  is  properly  and  diftinctly  parted,  without 
any  ambitious  and  fupernumerary  ornaments  ; 
which  he  elegantly  calls  —  capitis  difcriminapuri. 

i  But 


60     REMARKS  on  EPICOENE;  or 

But  round  faces  require  that  the  hair  fhould  be 
crifped,  in  fmall  curls,  upon  the  forehead  on^ 
Jy ;  and  that  the  reft  of  the  hair  fhould  cover 
the  ears.  NE  pateant  aures,  is  doubtlefs  the 
true  reading  ;  (tho*  BURMAN  has  printed  it,  UT 
pateant  aures :)  for  the  face  looks  rounder  by 
the  ears  appearing. 

Ibid. 

,..    jcsdiftor 
<c  Many  things,  that  feeme  foule  i'th*  doing* 

<e  doe  pleafe,  done."  Mult 'ague ',  dum  funt  tur- 
pia,  fatta  placent,  Ov.  Ill,  218. 

Ibid. 

46  A  lady  fhould  indeed  fludy  her  face,  when 
^  we  think  fhe  fleeps." 

*«  Tufaciem  cura,  dum  te  dormire  putemus. 
Other  editions  read, 

<c  Tu  quoque,  cum  coleris  nos  te  dormire  putemus. 
BITRMAN'S  thus, 

*'  *Tu  quoque  dum  coleris,  nos  te  dormire  putemus. 

How  much  more  like  the  Ovidian  elegance  is  the 
following  ? 

Te  qucque,  dum  cotitur  fades,  dormire  putemus ; 
Aptius  afummd  confpiciare  manu. 

Ibid. 


tc 

(C 


-  ^he  SILENT  WOMAN.         61 

i 

Ibid. 

C4  You  fee  guilders  will  not  work  but  inclof- 
"  ed  :  they  muft  not  difcover  how  litde  ferves 
*c  with  the  helpe  of  art,  to  adorne  a  great  deale. 
"  How  long  did  the  canvas  hang  afore,  Ald- 
"  gate?  were  the  people  fuffered  to  fee  the  ci- 
"  ties  love  and  chanty,  whilft  they  were  rude 
"  ftone,  before  they  were  painted  and  furnifh- 
"  ed  ?  No :  No  more  fhould  fervants  approach 
"  their  miftrefies,  but  when  they  are  compleat 
«  and  finiflied." 

Our  poet,  with  OVID  in  his  eye,  alludes  to 
his  own  times. 

"  Aurea  qu<£  pendent  ornatofigna  theatro ; 

"  Injpice^  quam  tennis  braftea  llgna  tegat, 
4<  Sedneque  ad  ilia  licet  populo,  rii/i/afta,  venire : 

"  Nee  nifi fubmotis  forma  paranda-y/m. 

Paranda^  the  fimple,  inftead  of  reparanda  the 
compofit;  no  unufual  thing  among  the  beft 
writers  of  antiquity.  I  mention  this  becaufe 
the  interpreters  are  in  darknefs :  this  word  I 
would  reftore  to  a  paffage  above,  viz.  f.  1 60. 

'e  0  quantum  indulget  veftro  nalura  decori, 

multis  damna  pianda  modis ! 
But 


62     REMARKS  oh  EPICOENE  ;  t>r 
But  we  fhould  read, 

Quorum  funt  multis  damna  paranda  modls  I     . 
Ibid. 

tc  I  once  followed  a  rude  fellow  into  a  cham- 
*'  her,  where  the  poor  madam  for  hafte,  and 
"  troubled,  fnatch'd  at  her  perruke,  to  cover 
u  her  baldneflfe  ,  and  put  it  on  the  wrong  way. 

"  CLE.  O  prodigie! 

"TRUE.  And  the  unconfcionable  knave  held 
"  "her  in  complement  an  houre  with  that  reverft 
*c  face,  when  I  ftill  look'd  when  Ihe  Ihould  talk 
f*.frQm  the  tother  fide. 

This  is  improved,  with  comic  humour,  from 
the  following, 

rt  Diftits  eram  cuidam  fubito  venifle  fuellae^ 
"  furbida  ferverfas  induit  ilia  comas. 

A&  I.   Sc.  II. 

"  He  thinks  I  and  my  company  are  authors 
u  of  all  the  ridiculous  affs  and  monuments  are 
"told  of  him." 

Perhaps  here,  but  doubtlefs  in  Every  Man  out 
of  his  humour.  Ad  III.  Sc.  VIII.  He  hints  at 
Fox's  book.  RUST.  2.  "  Well,  I'll  get  our 

"  Clarke 


SILENT  WOMAN.  63 
"  Clarke  put  his  converfion  in  the  Afts  and  Mo- 
"  numents.  RUST.  Doe,  for  I  warrant  him  hee's 
ic  a  Martyr^— The  audience  by  thefe  defcrip- 
tions  of  MOROSE  are  well  prepared  for  him, 
when  he  makes  his  entrance.  And  as  we  love 
to  know  fomething  of  a  man  before  we  get  in- 
to his  company,  fo  the  poet  has  taken  great 
care  to  bring  us  acquainted  with  his  principal 
characters,  before  they  make  their  appearance 
in  perfon. 

A&I.  Sc.IV. 

"The  doubtfulneffe  o'your  phrafe,  beleeve 
"  it,  Sir,  would  breed  you  a  quarrell,  once  an 
"  houre,  with  THE  TERRIBLE  BOYES,  if  you 
"  fhould  keep  'hem  fellowfhip  a  day 

Thefe  terrible  leys  are  mentioned  below  in  the 
Alchemift.  Ad  III.  Sc.  III. 

"  FAC.  Itfeemes,  Sir,  yo'  are  but  young 
<c  About  the  towne,  that  can  make  that  a 

"  queftion. 
'*  KAS.  Sir,   not  fo  young,  but  I  have  heard 

"  fome  fpeech 
"  Of  the  angrie  boyes,   and  feene  'hem  take 

"  tabacco. 


64     REMARKS  on  EPICOENE*  or 

A  citation  from  WILSON'S  life  of  K.  James* 
will  make  the  allufion  here  ftill  more  mamfeft. 
"  The  king  minding  his  fports,  many  riotous 
"  demeanours  crept  into  the  kingdom — divers 
"  feds  of  vitious  perfons,  going  under  the  ti- 
«'  tie  of  ROARING  BOYS,  Bravadoes,  Royfters^  &c. 
<c  commit  many  infolencies  ;  the  ftreets  fwarm 
<c  night  and  day  with  bloody  quarrels  \  private 
"  duels  fomented,  &V." 

Ibid. 

tc  LA-FOOL E.  I  had  as  faire  a  gold  jerkin  on 
ct  that  day,  as  any  was  worne  in  the  iland- 
<c  voyage,  or  at  Caliz,  none  difpraifed.'* 

In  the  r^ign  of  Q^  ELIZABETH  the  young  ad- 
venturers went  abroad  with  fine  furnitures  and 
drefles,  feeking  their  various  fortunes.  This 
ifland  voyage  was  undertaken  ann.  1585.  Sir 
FRANCIS  DRAKE  being  admiral,  with  a  fleet 
of  one  and  twenty  fail,  and  with  above  two 
thoufand  volunteers  on  board :  they  went  to 
Eifpamola,  and  there  made  themfelves  mailers 
of  the  town  of  St4  Domingo.  The  other  ad- 
venture here  mentioned,  was  undertaken  ann. 
1596.  when  the  Earl  of  ESSEX  and  Sir  W AL- 
TER RAWLEIGH  burnt  the  Indian  fleet  at  Cadiz> 
confuting  of  forty  fail,  and  brought  home  im- 

menfe 


*The  SILENT  WOMAN.       6$ 

menfe  tfeafiires. — SHAKESPEARE  alludes  to  this 
finery  of  d  re  fling,  when  our  youth  went  abroad, 
IK  King  John  Ad  II.  Sc.  I. 

tc  Have  fold  their  fortunes  at  their  native 

"  homes, 
"  Bearing  their  birthrights  proudly  on  their 

"  backs, 
"  To  make  a  hazard  of  new  fortunes  here. 

Adh  II.  Sc.  IL 

c;  TRU.  Marry,  your  friends  doe  wonder, 
"  Sir,  the  'Thames  being  fo  neere,  wherein  you 
*c  may  droune,  fo  handfomely  •,  or  London- 
"  bridge^  at  a  low  fall,  with  a  fine  leepe,  to  hur- 
c<  ry  you  downe  the  ftreame  \  or  fuch  a  delicate 
"  fteeple,  i'th'  towne,  as  Bow*  to  vault  from ; 
"  or  a  braver  height,  as  Paul's  ;  or  if  you  af- 
4t  fected  to  doe  it  nearer  home,  and  a  fhorter 
<c  way,  an  excellent  garret  window,  into  the 
cc  ftreet;  or  a  beame,  in  the  faid  garret,  with 
"  this  halter,  which  they  have  fent,  and  defire, 
<c  that  you  would  fooner  commit  your  grave 
"  head  to  this  knot,  than  to  the  wedlocke  nooze. 

with  this  halter — mewing  him  a  halter.  This 
whole  fcene  is  imitated  from  the  fixth  fatyre  of 

F  JUVE- 


66     REMARKS  on  EPJCOENEJ  or 

JUVENAL,  in  which  he  rails  with  the  moft  fcur- 
rilous  acrimony  againft  women  and  matrimony, 

Ferre  potss  dominamfafois  tot  reftibus  ullam, 
Cum  pateant  alt*  caligantefqye  fen$r#> 
Cum  tibi  vidnum  fe  prabeat  jEmi,Uus  peys  ? 

Juv.  S,  VI.  30. 


Ibid. 

tc  If  you  had  liv'd  in  King  Etbelred's  time, 
«'  Sir,  or  Edward  the  Cpnfeffor's,  you  might, 
c<  perhaps,  have  found  in  fome  cold  countrey 
"  hamlet,  then,  a  dull  froftie  wfench,  would 
'*  have  beene  contented  with  one  man  :  now, 
"  they  will  as  (bone  be  pleas'd  with  one  leg,  or 
«  one  eye. 


Credo  pudicitiam  Saturno  rege 

In  terris.  Juv.  S.  VI.  i- 

Quid  quod  et  antiquis  uxor  de  moribus  illi 
Gfu<£ritur  ?    O  medici  mediam  pertundite  ixnam. 
Delidas  hominis  !  larfeium  limen  adora 
PronuS)  et  aura  t  am  Junoni  c<ede  juvencam, 
Si  tibi  cmtigerit  capitis  matrona  pudici  ; 
(Pauccc  adeo  Certrisvittas  wntingere  dign<e> 
Quarum  non  timedt  pater  ofcula  ;)  neSe  coronam 
Poftibus^  et  denfosper  limim  te.nde  corymbos. 
i  Unus 


SILENT  WOMAN.       67 

Iberin*  vir  fufficit  f  ocyus  illud 
Extorqucfas,  W  k*e  ocitlo  contentafit  uno* 

So  this  paiTage  is  to  be  printed.  1  ufe  the  Van* 
orum  edition,  (as  'tis  called*)  which  is  faulty  here 
both  in  its  reading  and  flopping. 

Ibid. 

"  TRU.  Then,  if  you  love  your  wife,  or  ra- 
"  ther  dote  on  her,  Sir  •,  O  how  fhee'll  torture 
**  you !  and  take  pleafure  in  your  torments ! 

'«  Si  tibi  (Jimplicitas  uxoria  /)  deditus  uni 
*c  Eft  animus  \  fummitte  caput  cervice  par  at  a 
<6  Ferre  jugwn :  nullam  internes  ^  qu*  par  cat  a* 

"  manti\ 

4<  Ardeat  ipfa  licet>    tormentis  gaudet  amantls^ 
«  Etfpoliis.  Juv.  Sat.  VI.  205. 

Thus  this  place  is  to  be  pointed ;  for  the  con- 
ftruftion  is'  "  Si  tibi  eft  animus  uni  deditus>  qu<t 
«'  tuaeft  uxoriafimplicitas,  &c. 

Ibid. 

"  While  fhee  feeles  not  how  the  land  drops 
cc  away,  nor  the  acres  melt;  nor  forefees  the 
<e  change,  when  the  mercer  has  your  woods  for 
"  her  velvets ;  never  weighs  what  her  pride 
"  cofts,  Sir :  fo  fhe  may  kiffe  a  page  or  a 
Fa  "  fmooth 


68  REMARKS  ^EPICOENE^  or 
"  fmooth  chinne,  that  has  the  defpair  of  a  beard ; 
"  be  a  ftatefwoman,  know  all  the  newes,  what 
"  was  done  at  Salt/bury,  what  at  Bath,  what  at 
"  court,  what  in  progrefles  or,  fo.  fhe  may 
«*  cenfure  poets,  and  authors,  and  ftiles,  and 
"  compare  'hem,  DANIEL  with  SP-ENCER,  JON- 
«*  SON  with  the  tother  youth,  and  fo  forth  ;  or 
"to  be  thought  cunning  in  controverfies,  or 
"  the  very  knots  of  divinitie ;  and  have  often 
"  in  her  mouth,  the  ftate  of  the  queftion :  and 
"  then  fkip  to  the  mathematiques,  and  demon- 
"  ftration  and  anfwer,  in  religion,  to  one  •,  in 
"  ftate,  to  another  5  in  baud'ry,  to  a  third. 

"  MOR.  O,  6 ! 

"  TRU.  All  this  is  very  true,  Sir.  And  then 
c<  her  going  in  difguife  to  that  conjurer,  and 
"  this  cunning  woman  :  where  the  firft  queftion 
u  is,  howfoone  you  fhalldie?  next,  ifherpre- 
"  fent  fervant  love  her  ?  &c. 

Our  poet  here  has  abridged  his  author. — I 
will  point  out  the  various  allufions  to  the  rea- 
per. 

"  Mull  is  res  angufta  domi :  fed  nulla  pudorem 
"  Paupertatis  babet.         Juv,  Sat  VI.  356. 

Inftead 


I  L  E  N  T  Wo  M  A  N.  69 

Inftead  of  pudorem  I  would  read  pavorent.  For 
women  hold;  poverty  in  great  difgrace  and 
lhame  ;  and  this  reading  is  quite  contrary  to 
JUVENAL'S  drift  and  defign,  who  tells  us,  that 
women  have  no  dread  upon  them  at  all  of  ruin- 
ing their  hufbands  :  ib  that  pavorerii  feems  the. 
true  reading,  "  Thai  has  the  defpair  of  a  beard" 
This  is  literally  from  Juv.  VI.  366.  "  Defpe- 
<c  ratio  barbte"  Be  aftatefwoman,  know  all  tbc 
<c  newes." 


H<sc  eadem  noviti  quM  totofat  in  orbe  : 
Quid  Seres,  quid  Tbraces  agant.     S.  VI.  401. 

-  —  Famam^   rumor  efque  ilk  recent  es 
Excipit  ad  portas.  -f.  407. 

"  what  was  done  at  SALISBURY,"    viz.  at  the 

time  of  their  horfe-  races. 

*'  what  in  progrefs"  viz.  when  the  King  went 

his  progrefs,  as  to  Scotland  dec. 

<c  She  may  cenfure  poets  and  authors  and  (tiles, 

**  and  compare  Jem." 

««  Ilia  tamengravior,  qu*  cum  difcumbere  ca?pity 
cc  Laudat  VirgiHum,  peritur*  ignofcit  Elif*y 
<c  Committit  vates  et  comparat.        S.  VI.  433. 

"  DANIEL  with  SPENCER,    JONSON  with  the 

w  tother  youth,  and  fo  forth."     This  is  artful  ; 

F  3  and 


70     REMARKS  on  EPICOENEJ  or 

and  an  ingenious  ridicule  of  the  bad  taft  of  wo- 
men \  for  DANIEL  was  no  more  to  be  compared' 
with  SPENCER,  than  DECKER  (as  our  poet 
thought)  was  to  be  brought  into  a  compari- 
Ibn  with  himfelf:  for  'tis  DECKER  he  hints 
«c  at  by  tother  youth."  See  above  p.  2,  and  3, 
«c  Or  to  be  thought  cunning  in  controverfies, 

«<  &c." 

• 

"  Non  loabcat  matron^  ttbi  qutejunfta  recumUt^ 
«6  Dicenti  genus*  aut  cu&vuMfermone  rotato 
"  ^orqueat  enthymema>  nech$oriasfciatcmnes\ 
<*  Sedquxdamex  llbris  ET  NON  ihtetligat. 

Juv.  S.  VI.  47. 

Jrlere  are  two  faults  in  this  pafTage,  CURVUM. 
for  CURTUM,  as  has  been  proved  elfewhere.^ 

and  ET    NQN  for  NEC    NON,       JlJVENAL    WOUlcJ 

not  have  his  woman  abfolutely  ignorant  of  all 
books  and  all  reading  ^  the  negative  particle  is 
therefore  wrong. 

<e  And  thqn.her  going  in  difguife  to  that  con. 
^jurer,  and  this  cunning  woman.'8  JUVENAL 
rnentions  a  Jewijh  woman^  whom  he  calls 

-magnajaccrdos. 

An  BORIS.  j.  542. 

*^T*1* 

• 

lift 


iltxr  WOMAN.       71 

i.  £.  prieftefs  of  a  tree :  becaufe  their  Profeucb*  or 
places  of  prayer  were  near  groves  of  trees. 
This  place  of  JUVENAL  is  exaftly  the  fame  as 
in  Sat.  Ill,  #.15. 

Qmnis  etimptyitk  meffed&n  fender e  jujfi  eft 
ARBOR. 

Ibid. 

<c  And  then  comes  reeking  home  of  vapour 
"  artd  iweat,  with  going  a  foot,  and  lies  in  a 
"  moneth  of  a  new  face,  all  oyle  and  birdlime ; 
"  and  riie&in  aflea  tfiilk,  and  ii  cleans'd  with  a, 
4 'new  fucus, 

JSMUmiy  }.  e.  vifcoti^  and  glutinous  unguent^ 
aftd  catfejplatftos  for  beautifying  the  fade. 

li  tntcrea  fxtta  ajptfiuy  ridendaque  mutto 
«'  Pane  tumet  faties^  aut  pitfguia  Popp*am 
"  Spirat  et  bine  miferi  vifcantur  kbra  mariti. 

<c  ^Tandem  aperit  'vultumjt  teEforiaprima  refonit 
<l  Incipit  agnofci*  atqtte  itto  ta£fe  fovetur 
"  Propter  quod  fe  cum  comltes  educit  a  fellas. 
There  is  a  word  loft  in  the  laft  verfe  but  one, 
and  we  (hould  thus  clofe  this  gaping  verfe, 

44  Incipit  agiofri,  atquc  ilia  mox  latfe  fivetur. 

Sat.  VI.  467. 
F  4  A£t 


72     REMARKS  ^EPICOENEJ  or 

Ad  II.  Sc.  III. 

"  DAW.  The  dor  on  PLUTARCH  and  SENE- 
"  CA,  I  hate  it. 
Our  poet  in  Cynthia*  srevels^  Ad  3.  Sc.  3.  fays, 

"  What  Ihould  I  care  what  every  dor  doth 

"  buzze 
.   "  In  credulous  eares  ? 

The  dor  is  now  beft  known  by  the  name  of  the 
may-bug  or  chafer :  Scarabteus  arbor eus :  how  cru- 
elly they  are  ufed  to  afford  fport  to  fchool-boys 
is  well  known.  Hence  came  the  phrafe  to  give 
a  man  the  dory  or,  to  put  the  dor  upon  him.  We 
meet  with  this  phraie  below,  Aft  III.  Sc. 
IIL  "  She  would  have  appeared,  as  his  friend, 
<c  to  have  given  you  the  dor."  In  Every  Man 
in  his  humour •,  A6b  IV.  Sc.  VIII.  He  turns  it 
into  a  verb  "  Oh!  that  villain  dors  me."  In  the 
Anglo-S.  Dcra,  is  a  drone.  The  word  is  ftill 
preferved  in  the  weftern  parts  of  England  where 
the  humble  bee  is  called  the  drumble-dor. 

Aft  II.  Sc.  IV. 

"  TRU.  A  meere  talking  mole !  hang  him  : 
«<  no  mufhrome  was  ever  fo  frefh." 

It 


*fhe  SILENT  ,W OM AN.         7 JL 
It  fhould  have  been  printed  moile.     That  other 
expreflion,  no  mujhrome  was  ever  fe  fre/be—hz 
had  from  PLAUTUS  in  Baccb. 
"  — Jam  nibilfapit, 
"Necfentit:  tanti'ft,    quanti  eft  fungus  pu- 

"  tridus. 

•~V  '.'-"- 

So  LAMBIN  very  rightly,  and  notputtdus.  And. 
in  the  fame  play, 

u  Adeov?  mefuijje  fungum,  ut  qui  illicrederem  ? 
Again, 

"  Quicunque  ubique  funf,    qui  fuere,    quique  fu- 
*'  turifunt  pqftbac, 

<c  Stultij  ftolidi)  fatui,   fungi,    bardi,    blenni, 

<c  buc cones. 

Fungi]  Fungus,  injipidus  eft  fuapte  naturd.  Ita- 
que  a  cods  multo  pipere  et  oleo  et  vino  et  fak  condiri 
folet.  Hinc  fungi  dicuntur,  qui  nibil  fapiunt" 
LAMBINUS. 

MuJhroomS)  a  fpecies  at  leaft  of  thefe  fungous  ex. 
crefcencies  are  called  puff-balls^  puff-fifts  or  puck- 
fifts.  a  Germ,  puffeit,  Belg.  pofferr,  inflare:  et 
Teut.  frtft,  Belg.  t)ecff,  crepitus.  VISIRE,  w- 
de  Gall,  veffir  to  fiefte.  A  PUCKFIST  qua/i,  ter- 
ra flatus.  JONSON  in  the  Poetaftery  Aft  V.  Sc. 
III.  "  He  will  fqueeze  you,  poet  puckfift." 
And  in  the  Alcbimift,  Aft  I.  Sc.  II. 

«  rid 


REMARKS  vn  EpicoEtffe  •  or 

f<  fid  cnoake,  ere  I  would  change 
':cc~An  article  of  breath,  with  fuch  a  puckffti 
i.  c.  with  fuch  an  infipid,  infignifkant  fellow. 

.vV^yVA-AN   '«3Si\;~-    *' 

H  '  Aft  II.  8c.  V. 

"  MOR.  CUTBERD,  I  give  thee  the  leafe  of 
^  thy  hoiife'fre^r  tfeank  mcr  not  but  with  thy 
"  leg  (  -  )  I  know  what  thbu  wouldft  fay, 
<8  flie'spoore  and  her  friends  deceafed  -y  fhe  has 
ct  brought  a  wealthy  dowrie  in  her  fiknce, 

"•  ClTTfcB  R  D/  ^\\  \>    «  t  $$ 

Where  this  break  is  (-*•-—)  CUTBERD  fhakes 
hk  Itead,'  •  which  :^MaRa^  Intetpfet?,  /  know 
what  &c.  This  is  taken  from  PLAUTIT^  'Aulu- 
;  anfdthe  f&flTage  there  h  to  be  interpreted 
the 


chpio  fliam 


Vlrginem  mibi  def  fonder  L  —  Verla  m  facias  for  or  ; 


%ttid  dtEfottti}'^    txtnc  tffi  fauferem.    b<ec 


Where  I  have  made  f  his  break  —  Ihe  flakes  her 
fieadrin  figiiof  difapprdbation:  he  prevents  her 
anfwer  —  Verla  tie  facias 


n^.  . 

**  I  muft  hatfe  mine  eares  banqueted  with  plea- 


"fant 


"  fant  and  wittie  conferences,  pretty  girds, 
"  feoffs,  and  daliance  in  herv,  that  I  meane  to 
**  choofe  for  my  bedpheere." 

Banqueted  with  fkafant  conftrences-^-vtry  elegant- 
ly from  PLATO  de  tepub.  Matrox  Atf«»  xaAw*. 
And  this  metaphor  PLATQ  ufes  in  other  places. 
Hence  CICERO,  cogitationum  bonarum  epul* — 
difcendt  epulas.— Inftead  of  bedpbeere^  we  muft 
read  led-ftr^  i.  e.  bed^companion.  So  f  'ire  is 
ufed  in  our  old  poets ;  the  word  we  had  from 
the  Dams. — Pretty  girds?  feoffs^  &c.  This  word 
is  ufed  by  DOUGLAS  in  his  Scotifh  veriion, 

**  Was  it  riot  evin  be  fie  ane  fenzet  GIRD 
"  When  PARIS  furth  of  Pbryge  the  Trayane 

"  hird 

"  Socht  to  the  ciete  Laches  in  Sparta, 
"  And  thare  the  douchter  of  Leda  flal  away 
tc  The  fare  HELENE,     and  to   Trey  turfit 

««  raith  ? 

An  nonjie  Pbrygius  penetrat  Lacedamona  pafttr, 
Lcdjamqut  Heknam  frojanas  vext t  ad  arces  ? 

JEn.  VII.  363. 

It  comes  from  the  Greek  3/^0?,  gyrtts :  in  the 
fame  metaphorical  fignification,  the  Latins  fay 
circumvenire,  to  come  about,  /.  e.  to  deceive, 
t:o  circumvent. 


^6      REMARKS  on  EPICOENE$  or 

Aft  II.  Sc.VI. 
"  DAU.  What  be  thofe  in  the  name  offpbznx  ? 

i.  e.  in  the  name  of  ignorance.  Hear  our  poet, 
in  a  note  of  his  own,  on  a  paffage  in  his  mafque, 
intitled,  Love  freed  from  ignorance  and  folly: 
"  By  this  fphynx  was  underftood  ignorance^ 
"  who.is  always  the.  enemy  of  !ov.  and  beautie, 
"  and  lies  ftiii  in  wait  to  entrap  them.  For 
"  which,,  antiquitie  hath  given  her  the  upper 
"  parts  and  face  pf  a  woman,  the  nether  parts 
<«  of  a  lion,  the  wings  of  an  eagle  ;  to  mew  her 
4<  fiercenefle  and  fwiftneffe  to  evill  where  fliee 
cc  hath  power."  .In  that  ancient  pidture  fup- 
pofed  to  be  written  by  CEBES  we  read,  CH  ^ 


.. 

c. 

-03 

*'  It  fhewes  you  are  a  man  conftant  to  your 
<c  owne  ends.,  and  upright  to  your  purpofes, 
"^that  would  not  be  put  off  with  left  -handed 
"  cries. 

i.  e.  with  cries  founding  fo  ominous  :  according 
to  the  fenfe  of  the  Latin  favus. 
ftque  nee  laevus  vetet  ire  picus, 

Nee  vaga  comix.        Hor.  L,  3,  Od.  27 


The  SILENT  WOMAN.        77 
Safe  fmiftra  cavd  prxdixit  ab  ilice  comix.   Virg. 
So  the  Mifer  in  PLAUTUS, 

*'  Non  temere  eft  quod  corvos  cantat  tnibi  nunc 
44  ab  l^va  manu. 

Ibid. 

c4  MOR.  I  have  married  his  citterne^    that's 
4*  common  to  all  men. 

fhould  it  not  be,  ciftern  ?  i.  e,  the  common  fink, 
the  common  fewer,  ciftern,  or  receptacle.  Per- 
haps not :  but  rather  it  fhould  be  interpreted 
from  a  pafiage  in  Volume*  A6t  II.  Sc.  V. 

"  Get  you  a  titter ne^  lady  Vanitie 

"  And  be  a  dealer,  with  the  virtuous  man. 

See  the  note  on  that  paflage  above  p. 3 1 .  So  here, 
I  have  married  bis  citterne—i.  e.  his  citterne-wench, 
one  fit  to  attend  him  with  a  citterne,  if  ever  he 
Ihould  commence  quackfalver. 

Ibid. 

"  MOR.  Good,  Sir,  no  more.    I  forgot  my- 

"  felf. 

This  is  a  very  fine  inftance  of  the  fufpence  of 
charafter  :  MOROSE,  thro'  the  impetuous  de- 
fire  of  revenge,  for  a  while,  ads  out  of  his 
real  character.  i 

A& 


j8     REMARKS  on  EPICOENEJ  or 

Aft  III.  SC.VIL 

<e  OTT.   Wee  will  have  a  roufe  in  each  of 
<c  'hem  anon. 

a  roufe-^rom  the  Germ,  raufclj,  crapuk*  The 
learned  WATCHTERUS  fays  its  original  is  ob- 
fcure  and  hard  to  find,  and  adds,  "  Sifcriba- 
"  mus  more  antiquo  (jraus  patebit  illud  effe  contrac- 
"turn  eGr.  -K&^W  gnvuitas  capitis  ex  ebrietate.9* 
Hence  came  the  French,  carouffer,  to  carroufe. 
SHAKESPEARE  in  Hamlet^  A&  I. 

"  And  the  King's  roufe  the  heavens  mall  bruit 
"  again. 


^    j  -    .  - 

Overtook  in  his  ra(/?, 

Adi:  IV,  Sc.  I. 

"  TRU.  Beleeve  it  I  told  you  right.  Wo- 
<c  men  ought  to  repaire  the  loffes  time  and 
*'  yecrcs  have  made  i*  their  features,  with 
<c  dreffings.5> 

TRUE  WIT  refumes  the  fubje6t  of  ladies  dref- 
fmgs,  &c.  which  he  held  with  CLERIMONT 
above,  in  Ad  I.  Sc.  I.  And  our  learned 
Comedian  cannot  cafily  part  with  the  plea- 

furc 


. A  N,       79 

fure  he  finds  in  treating  and  imitating  OVID  ; 
though  the  audience,  perhaps,  may  think  the 
bufmefs,  and  action  of  the  play,  is  hereby  too 
much  interrupted. 

Ibid,  :^ 

"  If  a  fat  hand  and  fcald  nailes,  let  her  carve 
"  lefle,  and  aft  in  gloves. 

i.  e.  when  me  accompanies  her  words  with  the 
gefture  and  action  of  her  hand,  let  her  wear 
her  gloves. 

Rxig uofigntt  geflu  quodcunque  loquetur^ 
Cui  digiti  pingues^  et  {caber  unguis  erunt. 

Ov.  L.  3.  f,  275. 

Ibid. 

«*  TRU.  I,  and  others,  that  will  ftalk  i*  tfcir 
c<  gait  like  an  eftrich,  and  take  huge  flrides.  \ 
"  cannot  endure  fuch  a  fight.  I  love  meafure 
<c  i*  the  feet,  and  number  i*  the  voyce :  they  are 
"  gentleneffes,  that  ofttimes  draw  no  lefle  than 
*«  the  face. 

Eft  et  in  incejju  pars  non  temnenda  decoris ; 

Adllcit  ignotos  ille,  fugatque  viros. 
H<ec  movet  *  arte  latus,  tunicifque  fluentibus  auras 

Excipit ;  extenfos  fertque  fuperba  pedes. 
Ilia,  velut  conjux  Umbri  rublcunda  mariti, 

Am- 


8o     REMARKS  on  EMCOENEJ  or 

« en  Ambulat  -9  ingentes  *  varicafertquepedes. 
*  arte]  T^vixwf,  fecundum  artem. 

*•  Ingentes  varica  ferfque  pedes~\  Ita  reddit : 
FERTQUE  INGENTES  PEDES  aitD  tafees  1)1100 

ffriacs,  VARICA  tfalfchtg  in  Ijer  gait  like  am 
eftricl).  ^  *wrus  fit  various :  Angl  UratlDling, 
Herat.  L.  I.  S.  III.  #.  47- 

Hawr  Vamm>  diftortis  cruribus. 

Many  of  the  great  families  at  jR0»/£  had  names 
given  them  from  fome  defedb  in  their  perfons : 
VARUS  is  of  this  kind.  We  in  England,  who 
imitate  the  Roman  names,  have  likewife  our 
CROOKSHANKS,  LONGSHANKS  &c. 

Ibid. 

<c  Thither  they  come  to  fhew  their  new  tyres 
<l  too,  to  fee  and  to  be  feene.  In  thefe  places 
*c  a  man  mall  finde  whom  to  love,  whom  to 
"play  with,  whom  to  touch  once,  whom  to 
"  hold  ever.  The  variety  arrefts  his  judgment. 

Speftatum  veniunf,  veniunt  fpeftentur  ut  ipfce. 

I.  99. 

Illic  invenies  quod  ames,  quod  ludere  poffis, 
Sguodque  femel  tangas,  quodque  tenere  veils. 

I.  91. 


<fhe  SILENT  WOMAN.       8t 

Quodludere]  fcrtjom  to  plap  foify  obfcanhre  fenfu. 
Sicut  ro  -vugiiv  apud  Gr<ecos.—  Thus  MILTON 
ufes  the  word,  and  thus  too  SHAKESPEARE,  as 
has  been  already  obferved. 

Copiajudiciumfepe morata  meum.  -.  t  43. 

Ibid. 

"  A  wench  to  pleafe  a  man  comes  not  down 
"  dropping  from  a  ceiling,  as  he  lies  on  his  back 
"  droning  a  tobacco-pipe. 

Hac  tibi  non  femes  veniet  dilapfa  per  auras^ 
Qu<erenda  eft  oculis  aptapuella  tuis.     I,  43. 

Puella]  a  tond>  So  this  word  was  ufed  for- 
merly. In  SHAKESPEARE  PROSPERO  calls  his 
beloved  daughter,  toencj).  And  rro^al  toenclj 
is  ufed  when  fpeaking  of  CLEOPATRA.  The 
etymology  of  the  word  feems  to  me  to  come 
from  JUVENCA,  JUVENCULA,/W  apharefin\  uti 
ttltcU0£  AVUNCULUS:  bell? ab  UMBILICUS,  pars 
pro  toto  : 

Droning  a  tobacco  pipe]  So  in  Every  Man  out  of 
its  humour,  Aft  IV.  Sc.  III.  "  They  ha'  beene 
"  droning  a  tobacco  pipe  there  ever  fin'  yefter- 
"  day  noone.'* 

G  Ibid. 


82     REMARKS  on  EPICOENE;  or 

Ibid. 

"  PENELOPE  herfelf  cannot  hold  out  long. 
Cf  OSTEND  you  faw  was  taken  at  laft. 

Penelopen  ipfam  (perfta  modo)  tempore  vinces. 
Capta  videsfero  Pergama^  capta  tamen. 

J>  477- 

Our  poet  in  his  imitations  keeps  his  eye,  how- 
ever,  very  judicioufly  on  his  own  times.  Qftend 
was  taken  in  1604  by  the  Marquefs  SPINQLA 
after  three  years  fiege,  and  the  flaughter  of  a 
hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  men  on  both 
fides. 

Ibid. 

"  Shee  that  might  have  becne  forc'd,  and  you 

•  let  her  goe  free  without   touching,    though 

then  fhee  feeme  to  thank  you,  will  everhfte 

\  H  afT  \  3nd  glad  ^  the  face'  is  a^edly 
'••  lad  at  the  heart.  } 

"  CLE.  But  all  women  are  not  to  be  taken 
"  alwaies. 


SILENT  WOMAN.       83 

At  qua  cum  cogi  pojftt,   non  tada  receffif, 
Utfimulet  vultu  gaudia,    triftis  crit. 

Ov.  Art.  Am.  L.  I.  677. 

CON  TACT  A,  ttJtffjOUt  fcuclHflg-     This  has  been 
Jready  explained. 

c  But  all  women  are  not  to  be  taken  ALWAIES.'* 
t  fhould  manifeftly  be  red,  ALL  WAYS. 

• Sunt  diver  fa  puellis 

Peftora:  milk  animos  excipemille  modis. 

Art.  Am.  I,  755. 

Ibid. 

*6  If  you  appeare  learned  to  an  ignorant 
*c  wench,  or  jocound  to  a  fad,  or  witty  to  a 
"  foolilh,  why  me  prefently  begins  to  miftruft 
P  herfelf. 

*c  Nee  tibi  conveniat  cunftos  modus  unus  ad  anno s  : 
<c  Longius  injidias  CERVA  vide  bit  anus. 

"  Si  do  ft  us  vide  are  rudi^    pstulattfvc  pudenti, 
4<  Diffidet  mifer*  protinus  illafibi. 

L.  I.  jr.  765. 

There  is  an  error  in  the  fecond  verfe,  and  the 
copies  vary.  Some  have  CURVA,  others  CER- 
VA, but  all  are  wrong ;  for  the  true  reading, 
with  a  moment's  confideration,  is, 

G  a  Longius 


84     REMARKS  O«EPICOENE;  or, 
"•Longius  infidias  CAUTA  vide  bit  anus. 

Ibid. 

"  Or  if  mee  be  a  great  one  performe  alwai 
«c  the  fecond  parts  to  her. 

Whether  me  be  great  or  lit  tie  9  it  alters  n< 
the  cafe  at  all.  I  am  afraid  our  poet  did  n< 
here  rightly  underftand  his  author,  or  the  a 
and  cunning  of  love. 

Partes  ilia  potentis  agat.         II,  29 

let  the  whole  farce  be  fo  managed,  fays  Ovi; 
that  your  miftrefs  may  feem  to  carry  all  befo 
her  •,  let  her  obtain  all  her  defires  and  requeft: 
yield  to  her  in  her  difputes  ;  be  you  the  va: 
quimed  and  me  the  victor.  This  is  the  fori 
of  the  words,  and  this  OVID  means  by — part 
ilia  potentis  agat. 

A$  IV.  Sc.  II. 

"  OTT.  Wife!  Buz.  Titwititium*  There 
*c  no  fuch  thing  in  nature.— A  wife  is  a  fcurv 
"  clogdogdd^  an  unlucky  thing,  a  very  forefai 
"  beare — whelp,  without  any  good  fafhion  < 
*c  breeding :  mala  beflia. 

Titiv 


The  SILE  NT  WOMAN.         85 

*Titivilitium  is,  in  PLAUTUS,  a  word  of  no 
;nification,  and  fo  ufed  here  by  OTTER. — 
vgdogdo  is  a  ludicrous  expreffion,  formed  by 
5  poet,  meaning  a  clog  proper  only  for  a  dog. 
•MALA  BESTIA  j  fo  in  PLAUTUS'S  Bacchides, 

Mala  tu  es  beftia. 
nd  CATULLUS, 

Hunc metuunt  omneS)  nequemirum-,  xam  MALA 

valde  eft 
BESTIA. 

t  the  fame  fenfe  the  Cretan  poet,  or,  as  St9 
AUL  is  pleafed  to  ftile  him,  the  Cretan  prophet , 
ills  his  countrymen,  KAKA  ©HPIA. 

Ibid. 

<«  MOR.  I  will  have  no  fuch  examples  in  my 

"  houfe,  Lady  OTTER. 
<e  Mrs*  OTT.  Ah. — 
"  MOR.   Mrs.  Mary  dm&ree-your  examples 

46  are  dangerous. 

#ARY  AMBREE  is  mentioned  as  a  heroine  in 
ur  ballads  •,  me  was  at  the  fiege  of  Gaunt.  Thus 
ONSON  in  his  mafque  called  the  fortunate  ijles, 

u  Her  you  lhall  fee. 
*<  But  credit  mee, 

G  3  "  That 


36     REMARKS  on  EPICOENE  5  er 

"  That  MARY  AMBREE, 
"  Who  marched  fo  free 
"  To  the  fiege  of  Gaunt  ', 
"  And  death  could  not  daunt* 
.  *fr  As  the  ballad  doth  vaunt, 
"  Were  a  braver  wight, 
"  And  a  better  fight. 

Again,  ma  Tale  of  a  Tub,  Ad  I.  Sc.  IV. 

c*  —  My  daughter  will  be  valiant, 
u  And  prove  a  very  MARY  ANBRY  [r.  A 

"  BREE]  i'  the  bufinefs. 

\  ^  fc 

Ad  IV.  Sc.  III. 

«  DAW.  Is  the  Thames  the  lefTe  for  the  dy 
"  water,  miftrefs  ? 

**  L.A-F.    Or  a  torch,    for  lighting  m; 
««  torches  ? 

Our  comedian  feems  defirous  of  introduc 
the  whole  of  OVID'S  Art  of  Love. 


Quid  vetet  adpoftto  lumen  de  famine  fu 
Quifve  cavo  wjlas  in  mare  fervet  aquas  ? 

Dct  tam:n  ulla  viro  mulier  non  expedit,  inqi 
H$uid,  njfi  quam  fumes  ^  die  mlbi,  perdis  aqua 

Inflead  of  inquis  we  mufl  correcl  inquit  -9  wh 
is  ufed  by  way  of  objection.     And  where-e' 
2 


The  Si  LENT  WOMAN.    ,   87 

we  meet  with  inquis  by  way  of  objection,  we 
muft  change  it  into  inquit.  So  in  OVID,  de 
TriJl.L.V.  El.  I. 

At  poteras,  inquis,  melius  mala  ferre  Jilendo. 
Here  we  Ihould  read  inquit.  The  fame  kind  of 
error  is  in  Greek  authors :  for  when  (pa<r),  by 
way  of  an  objection,  occurs,  we  muft  read  (pW. 
In  a  word,  there  is  fcarcely  a  Latin  or  Greek 
book  in  the  reader's  ftudy,  but  the  tranfcribers 
have  blundered  in  this  ancient  mode  of  exprefil- 
on  :  in  the  Latin  books  you  have  inquis,  for  in- 
quit  ;  in  the  Greek  <pa<r),  for  (pu<n.— -And  let  this 
information  to  my  learned  reader  fuffice  at  pre- 
fent. 

Ibid. 

cc  MAV.  She  that  noW  excludes  her  lovers, 
"  may  live  to  lie  a  forfaken  beldame  in  a  frozen 
"  bed. 

Tempus  erit,  quo  /a,  qu<e  nunc  excludis  amantem^ 
Frigida  deferta  nofte  jacelis  anus. 

Inftead  of  amantem  JONSON  red  amantes. 

Aft  IV.  Sc.  IV. 

c<  MOR.  Nay,  I  would  fit  out  a  play  that 
"  were  nothing  but  fights  at  fea,  drum,  trum- 
"  pet,  and  target. 

G  4  This 


88     REMARKS  <?«EPICOENE;  or 

This  is  intended  as  a  little  piece  of  farcafm  on 
his  friend  SHAKESPEARE. 

Ibid. 

"  EPI.  Lord,  how  idly  he  talks,  and  how 
"  his  eyes  fparkle  !  he  looks  greene  about  the 
^  temples !  do  you  fee  what  blue  fpots  he  has  ? 

This  is  a  plain  imitation  of  a  paflage  in  the 
Mentfchmi  of  PLAUTUS  : 

MUL.  Videtf  tu  \Ui  oculos  virere?  ut  viridis  ex^ 

orltur  color ^  ' 
Ex  temporibus  atqye  fronte*    ut  owli  fcintillanty 

ijide ! 

SHAKESPEARE  had  this  paflage  in  his  view  in 
the  Comedy  of  Errors.  A6t  IV. 

*c  Luc.  Alas,   how  fiery  and  how  fharp  he 
"looks! 

JONSON  is  always  delirous  that  his  imitations 
mould  appear  ;  SHAKESPEARE  lies  more  con- 
cealed. 

A6t  IV.  Sc.  V. 

cc  TRU.  You  two  fhall  be  the  chorus  behind 
^  the  arras,  and  whip  out  between  the  acts,  and 
"  fpeak. 

This 


iLENT  WOMAN.         89 
This  too  is  a  kind  of  fneer  on  his  contempo- 
rary SHAKESPEARE.     See  his  Henry  V. 

Ibid. 

*'  L.A-F.  Why,  Iweet  matter  TRUE  WIT,  will 
"  you  entreat  my  coufin  OTTER  to  fend  me  a 
"  cold  venifon  pafty,  a  bottle  or  two  of  wine, 
c<  and  a  chamber-pot. 

«TRU.  A  ftoole  were  better,  Sir,  of  Sir  A* 
c*  j  AX  his  invention. 

The  allufion  here  feems  to  me  as  poor,   as  it  is 
obvious.     So  again  in  his  epigrammes, 

<c  And  I  could  wifh  for  their  eternis'd  fakes, 
"  My  mufe  had  ploughed  with  his  that  fung 
"  A-JAX. 

However  poor  as  the  pun  is,  yet  the  wits  of  our 
Author's  age  were  not  amamed  to  ufe  it.  See 
HARRINGTON'S  epigrams  [B.  i.  Ep.  51.  and  B. 
2.  Ep.  29.]  The  fame  poor  allufion  is  too  in  a 
play  attributed  to  SHAKESPEARE,  named  Love's 
labour* slcfi.  Acl  V. 

"  COST,  O  Sir,  you  have  overthrown  ALI- 
"  SANDER  the  conqueror.  You  will  be  fcraped 
**  out  of  the  painted  cloth  for  this ;  your  lion, 
<cthat  holds  the  poll-ax  fitting  on  a  clofe-£ooly 
"  will  be  given  to  A-JAX  j  he  will  be  then  the 
**  ninth  worthy. 


9o      REMARKS  on  EPICOENE  5  or 

Aft  VI.  Sc.  VI. 

"  CEN.  Nay,  madame,  MAVIS  was  more  de- 
<c  ceived  than  we,  'twas  her  commendation  «/- 
*6  ter'd  'em  in  the  colledge. 

I  think  it  fhould  be,  ufber*d  'em,  i.  e,  introdu- 
ced them. 

Ibid. 

"  TRU.  Not  I,  madam,  it  was  Sir  Dauphine's 
"  ingine. 

Ingine  i.  e.  device,  contrivance,  a  La!,  ingenium, 
CHAUCER  follows  the  French,  eitgitT,  engine  > 
and  thus  we  write  it  at  prefent. 

Aft  V.  Sc.  I. 

"  CLE.  Faith,  now  we  are  in  private,  let's 
"  wanton  it  a  little."  /.  e.  let  us  play  the  wan- 
ton.  This  puts  me  in  mind  of  a  probable, 

at  leaft  an  ingenious,  conjecture  of  a  worthy 
friend  of  mine  on  a  paflage  in  SHAKESPEARE'S 
K.  LEAR,  Ad  III.  Sc.  IX.  The  old  King  is 
arraigning  in  his  diftrafted  imagination  his  un- 
natural daughters. "  Now  ye  fhe-foxes  5 

"  EDG.  Look,  where  fhe  (lands  and  glares. 
<c  WANTEST  thou  eyes  at  tryal,  madam  ? 


The  SILENT  WOMAN.         91 

The  alteration  is  not  great,  WANTONEST  &c. 
but  how  greatly  is  the  fenfe  improved  ? 

Ibid. 

"  DAW.  Not  I,  Sir,  I  have  no  difcourfe.— 
<c  And  then  you  have  activitie  befide. 

"  LA-F.  I  proteft,  Sir  JOHN,  you  come  as 
"  high  from  TRIPOLY,  as  I  doe  every  wit  :  and 
"  lift  as  many  joyned  ftooles,  and  leape  over 
<c  'hem,  if  you  would  ufe  it. 

Tou  come  as  high  from  TRIPOLY  —  a  phrafe 
fignifying  feats  of  activity,  vaulting,  leaping, 
&c.  So  in  his  Epigr.  CXV. 

«<  Can  come  from  TRIPOLY,    leape  ftooles, 

tc  and  wink, 

"  Do  all,  that  'longs  to  th'  anarchy  of  drink, 
*«  Except  the  duell. 


v.  sc.  in. 

"  Do's  not  the  verfe  of  your  owne  canon  fay. 
«*  H<ec  focianda  vet  ant  connubia^  fafta  retraftant. 
The  following  are  the  verfes  alluded  to, 

i  *  3  4  5 

Error^   eonditio^   votum,  cognatio^  crimen, 

6  7          8  9  10 

Cultus  dtfparitasi  vis,  ordo,  Irgamtn^  hcneftas> 

II  12 

Si  fa  affinity  fi  forte  wire  nequibis  ;  [Si 


g2      REMARKS  on  EPICOENEJ  or 

[Si  parochi  et  duplicis  dejit  prxfentia  teftis 
Rapt  ave  fit  mulier^  nee  parti  reddita  tut<el\ 

H&C  FACIENDA    VETANT    CONNUBIA,    FA- 
CTA  RETRACTANT, 

« — '.ahuy. 

Ad  V.  Sc.  IV. 

MOROSE  being  interrupted  by  the  intrufion 
and  noife  of  the  men  and  women  cries  out, 

"  O  mankind  generation ! 

This  word  mankind^  or  manni(h,  which  we  meet 
with  in  old  authors,  has  not  been  yet  fufficiently 

explained. $JDatT,  beHdes  its  well  known  fi- 

gnification,  in  the  language  of  our  forefathers 
fignified  wickednefs.  SOMNER,  "  man,  homo, 
"  a  man.  Item,  f acinus >  fcelus^  nefas^  probrumy 
« piaculum"  WATCHTERUS,  u  MEIN,  ma- 
ec  lum  aRionis^  vitium,  fcelus,  culpa.  Somnerus 
"  in  Ditt.  Anglo- S.  man  f acinus 9  fcelus,  nefas9 
<c  prolrum,  piaculum.  MANFULL,  nefandus^  in- 
w  fandus,  ftagitiofus^  fceleflus9  quafi  fcelerum  pie- 
"  nus-"  Having  thus  feen  its  original  figninS 
cation,  let  us  now  tu.rn  to  our  old  poets.  And 
thus  CHAUCER  ufes  it  in,  the  Man  of  Lawes 
783. 

>  MANNISH,  fie. 


The  SILENT  WOMAN.        93 

SHAKESPEARE  in  As  you  like  it,    Adi  I,  Sc.  «//. 

<e  We'll  have  a  fwafhing  and  a  martial  outfide, 
<c  As  many  other  MANNISH  cowards  have. 

FAIRFAX,  XX.   95.  ^ 

<e  See,  fee,  this  MANKINDE  ftrumpet,  fee  (he 

«  cride) 
"  This  fhamelefie  whore. 

ecco  la  putta,  e'l  drudo. 

TASSO. 

SHAKESPEARE  in  Coriolanus,  Act  IV. 

"  Are  you  MANKIND  ? 
And  in  the  Winter's  Tale,  Aft  II. 
"  Out!  a  MANKIND  witch! 

Ibid. 
"  Mos.  This  is  word  of  all  worft  worfts ! 

It  mould  be,  "  This  is  worft,  of  all  worfts 
worft."  From  that  exprefiion  in  St.  CHRY- 

SOSTOM,     17,   XOCKOV   XQMUV   K&Y.IS'OV. 

Ibid. 

"  TRU.  Well,  DAUPHINE,  you  have  lurch'd 
"  your  friends  of  the  better  halfe  of  the  gar- 
"  land  by  concealing  this  part  of  the  plot. 

Hardly, 


94  REMARKS, 

Hardly,  I  believe,  can  be  given  a  better  in* 
ftance  of  a  happy  difcovery^  and  unravelling  of 
the  whole  plot,  than  in  this  play,  which  we 
have  now  before  us.  The  perfons  of  the  play 
are  ajl  met  together,  and  all  in  the  higheft 
fufpenfe  of  the  cataftrophe :  ly  concealing  this 
fart  of  the  plot  DAUPHINE  has  lurched  his  friends 
of  the  better  half  of  the  garland. '  And  let  this 
praife,  which  TRUE  WIT  gives  to  his  friend,  be 
returned  back  again  to  our  poet. — I  cannot  but 
take  notice  of  a  pafiage  of  OVID  [Art.  Am.  II, 
633.]  imitated  by  our  learned  comedian  in  this 
concluding  fpeech :  "  You  are  they,  that  when 
"  no  merit  of  fortune  can  make  you  hope  to 
«  enjoy  their  bodies,  will  yet  lie  with  their  ,re- 
"  putations,  and  make  their  fame  fiiffer.  Away, 
a  you  common  moths  of  thefe,  and  all  ladies 
«'  honors. 

Parva  qtieror :  fingunt  qiiidam,  qu*  vera  nega* 

rent, 

Et  nulli  non  fe  conculuijje  ferunt. 
Corpora  ft  nequeant^    qua  foffunt  [leg.  pqffint] 
nomina  traftant ; 

i  non  taflo  corpore,  critnen  habct* 

REMARKS 


t  95  1 

REMARKS 

O  N    T  H  E 

ALCHEMIST. 

PROLOGUE. 

'  *  T7  O  R  T  U  N  E,  that  favours  fooks,  thefc 
*'  J?  two  fliort  houres 

"  We  wifh  away. 

So  in  Every  Man  out  of  his  humour.  Aft  I.  Sc.  III. 
"  SOG.  Why,  who  am  I  Sir?  MAC,  One  of 
"  thofe  that  fortune  favours.  CAR.  The  peri- 
"  phrafis  of  a  foole." 

Fortunafavet  fatuis^  is  the  faying  alluded  to  \ 
or,   as  in  PUBLIUS  SYRUS, 

"  Fortuna^  nimlum  quern  fivst,  ftultumfacit. 

This  proverbial  eXprefTion  is  hinted  at  in  a  hu* 
mourous  and  well-conceited  fpeech  of  Jaques^  in 
SHAKESPEARE'S  As  you  Like  if,  A6t  II.  — The 
paffage  is  wrongly  pointed  and  not  rightly  un- 
derftood  :  without  any  alteration  of  the  words, 
it  ihould  thus  be  red,  "  A 


E  M  A  R  K  S     OH 
<c  A  fool,  a  fool ;  I  met  a  fool  i'th'  foreftj 
"  A  motley  fool  •,  (a  miferable  world, 
"  As  I  do  live  by  food !)  I  met  a  fool, 
*<  Who  laid  him  down  and  balk'd  him  in  the 

"  fun, 
<c  And  rail'd  on  Lady  FORTUNE  in  good 

"  terms, 

u  (In  good  fet  terms)  and  yet  a  motley  fool. 
"  Good  morrow,  fool,  quoth  I.     No,   Sir* 

"  quoth  he, 
"  Call  mtnot  fool,  ' till  heaven  katb  fent  me  for- 

"  tune. 

A&  I.  Sc.  I. 
FACE,  SUBTLE,  DOL  COMMON. 

"  Beleeve't,  I  will.     SUBT.    Thy  worft.     I 

"  fart  at  thee. 
"  DOL.  Ha*  you  your  wits  ?  why  gentlemen  ! 

**  for  love— 

"  FACE.  Sirrah,  I'll  ftrip  you— SUB.  What 
"  to  do?  lick  figs  out  at  my — FAC.  Rogue, 
"  rogue,  out  of  all  your  Heights. 

Our  poet  could  not  poflibly  have  chofen  a 
happier  incident  to  open  his  play  with :  inftead 
of  opening  with  a  dull  narration,  you  have  ac^ 

tion 


/£*   ALCHEMIST.  97 

tion  ;  and  fuch  action  too,  as  cannot  pofiibly 
be  fuppofed  to  happen  at  any  other  time,  than 
this  very  prefent  time.  Two  rogues,with  their 
punk,  are  introduced  quarrelling,  and  juft  fo 
much  of  their  fecrets  is  difcovered  t<*  the  audi- 
ence, as  is  fufficient  for  the  audience  at  prefent 
to  know,— The  reader  too,  perhaps,  is  to  be 
informed,  that  our  learned  comedian  does  not 
deal  in  vulgar  Englijh  expreflions,  but  in  vulgar 
Attic  or  Roman  expreflions.  * '—  I  fart  at  thee, J * 
wsgfa  «•»,  oppedo  tibi.  ARISTOPHANES  in  Pint. 
if.  6 1 8.  TVS  TaWa?  xoWaf&tV,  pa upertati  oppedere. 
HORACE,  the  polite  HORACE,  did  not  think 
himfelf  too  delicate  for  this  phrafe :  "  Virf  ttt 
"  curtis  Jud<eis  oppedere''  L. I.  S.  IX.  #.  70.— 
Prefent ly  after  he  fays  "  What  to  do  ?  lick 

"  figs  out  at  my '*     The  allufion  here  will 

be  very  obvious  to  thofe,  who  have  red  the 
ftory  of  the  punifhment  inflided  on  the  inhabi- 
tants of  MILAN,  by  the  Emperor  FREDERIC 
BARBAROSSA.  The  facetious  RABELAIS  relates 
it,  B.  IV.  C;  45.  So  again  in  Every  Man  in 
his  Humour,  Adt  II.  Sc.  IV.  "  And  yet  the  lie 
*'  to  a  man  of  my  coat,  is  as  ominous  a  fruit,  as 
"  the  Fico."  And  SHAKESPEARE  in  K.  HEN- 
RY  V.  Act  III.  "  PIST.  Die  and  be  damn'd 
"  and  Figo  for  thy  fricndfhip.  FLEU.  It  is  well. 

H  *«    PiST. 


98  REMARKS   on 

"  PIST.  The  Fig  of  Spain." There  is  no 

occafion  to  mention  other  paffages,  for  this  hint 
may  be  fufficient. 

Ibid. 

"  Have  all  thy  tricks 
"  Of  cozning  with  a  hollow  cole 

This  alludes  to  the  ftory  in  CHAUCER.  Sec 
the  Chanorfs  Yeman's  tale.  f.  1180,  &c. 

Ibid. 

<c  And  taking  in  of  fhaddows  with  a  glaflc 
<c  Told  in  red  letters. 

In  red  letter  $,  i.  e.  letters  written  in  blood.  Con- 
cerning this  manner  of  divination  with  a  glaffe, 
confult  the  Scboliaft  of  ARISTOPHANES  in  Nub. 
*  750. 

Ibid. 

"  DOL.  Your  fol  and  luna — help  me. 
See  note  above  p.  24. 

Ibid. 

" Rafkals, 

"  Would  runne  themfelves  from  breath  to 

"  fee  me  ride, 
<e  Or  you  t'have  but  a  hole  to  thruft  your 

"  heads  in,  *«  For 


the  ALCHEMIST.  99. 

<c  For  which  you  fhoiild  pay  eare-rent. 

To  fee  me  ride,  &c.  /.  e.  to  lee  me  carted  as  a 
baud,  and  you,  as  a  couple  of  .rogues,  to  lofe 
your  ears  in  the  pillory. 

Ibid. 

"  SUB.  Who  is  it,  DOL?  DOL.  A  fine  young 
"  quodling.     FAC.    O,  my  lawyers  clerke. 

A  quodling,  or  codlin:  metaphorically,  a  too 
foon  ripe-headed  young  boy.  By  the  fame  me- 
taphor below  he  is  called  a  puffin.  SHAKE- 
SPEARE ufes  in  the  fame  manner  Princox  in  Ro- 
meo and  Juliet^  Act  I.  «'  You  are  a  princox, 
"  go."  a  Lat.  PR^COX.  [pr<ecox  ficus^  praco- 
cia  poma.  bine  apud  Grcscos  recentiores  zr^ exoxxi*, 
«r^oxoxx»«,  et  |3ff»eoxxa,  unde  Ang,  apricots  ]  Quin- 
til.  L.  i.  C.  3.  Ligenium  praecox,  quod  nimis 
clto  maturitatem  confecutum  eft,  nimifque  cito  vide~ 
fur  adokviffe. 

Ad:  I.   Sc.  II. 

" What  doe  you  think  of  mee, 

"  That  I  am  a  Chiaufe?  FAC.  What's  that  ? 
c<  DAP.    The  Turkc  was  here— 

As  one  would  fay,  do  you  think  I  am  a  Turke  ? 
H  2  DAP- 


ioo  REMARKS^ 

DAPPER  makes  a  blundering  kind  of  anfwer, 
(highly  in  character)  to  FACE'S  queftion. — Si 
tljoufe,  to  cf)OUfe,  or  put  the  cljOUfe  upon  one  ; 
are  expreffions  well  known.  The  etymology 
of  the  word  is  not  fo  eafily  afcertained  -,  that  al- 
luded to  here  the  reader  may  find  in  SKINNER. 
*  Deft.  TH.  H.  diffum  putat  [a  cljotofe]  a  Turci- 
<c  fflCniAus,  nunciusfeu  legatus  imperatoris  far- 
"  cici ;  hujufmodi  enim,  cum  viles  aul<e  fervi  Jint, 
<«  et  indofti,  oratoribus  Chriftianorum  collati,  Jlulti 
"  babentur" 

Ibid. 

<c Fid  choake,    ere  I  would  change 

"  An  article  of  breath,  with  fuch  zpuck-fift. 

See  above. 

Ibid. 

"  He  may  make  us  both  happy  in  an  houre : 
u  Win  fome  five  thoufand  pound  and  fend 
"  us  two  o*  it. 

Never  was  there  a  poet  fo  fond  of  introdu- 
cing Roman  and  Greek  modes  of  fpeech  into 
the  Englifh  language,  as  JONSON,  Happy  here 
fignifies  rich. 

— — vetul<e  vefica  BEAT^S*  Juv. 

2  SO 


ALCHEMIST.  101 

So  HOMER  II.  V.  tf.  68. 

-  •Avtyo'f  MA'KAPOZ  xar  g^M. 

-  viri  locupletis  per  arvum. 

Schol. 


Ibid. 

*». 

cc  FAC.  Did  you  never  fee 
u  Her  royall  Grace  yet  ?  DAP.  Whom  ?  your 

"  aunt  of  fairy  ? 
"  SUBT.  Not  fmce  fhe  kift  him  in  the  cradle, 

"  captaine, 
"  I  can  refolve  you  that. 

The  perfons  are  thus  to  be  ordered, 

FAC.  Did  you  never  fee 
Her  royal  Grace  yet?    DAP.  Whom  ?   FAC. 

Your  aunt  of  fairy  ? 
SUBT.  Notfince,  &c. 

Acl  I.  Sc.  III. 

<c  He  has  his  maple  block,  his  filver  tongs, 
"  Winchefter  pipes,  and/r*  of  juniper. 

The  chymifts  tell  us  that  a  coal  of  juniper,  if 
covered  over  with  its  own  afhes,  will  retain  its 
fire  a  whole  year  :  ABEL  kept  this  coal  of  juni. 
per  for  his  cuftomers  to  light  their  pipes  with  . 

H  3  To 


102  REMARKS    on 

— To  this  power  of  a  coal  of  juniper's  retaining 
its  fire,  or  at  leaft  to  the  vulgar  belief  of  it,  the 
Pfalmift  alludes,  "  What  fhall  be  given  unto 
*c  thee  ?  or  what  fhall  be  dpne  unto  thee,  thou 
"  falfe  tongue  ?  fharp  arrows  of  the  mighty, 
«c  with  coals  of  juniper''  Pf.  CXX.  jfr.  3.  JON- 
STON,  in  his  verfion  of  the  pfalms,  readers  it, 

Igneajuniperi  minus  urit  pruna. 

Hence  came  the  faying  of  a  juniper  htture : 
which  I  mention  becaufe  I  know  not  that  this 
proverbial  expreflion  has  been  as  yet  rightly  ex- 
plained. 

Ibid. 

^  Beneath  your  threfhold  bury  me  a  loadftone, 
*c  To  draw  in  gallants  that  weare  fpurs :    the 

«  reft, 
.««  They'll  feeme  to  follow. 

The  conftrudion  is,  "  as  to  the  reft,"  quod  atti* 
net  ad  ctfteros,  SHAKESPEARE  ufes  this  comlnr 
dion  very  frequent, which  his  editors  never  con- 
fidered,  and  hence  have  frequently  altered  his 
words.— "They'll  feme,"  i.  e.  They'll  think 
it  convenient,  fuitable  &c.  it  feemeth,  decet, 
convent.  Seemlinefs,  decor.  From  the  Daniih, 
fommer2  decet.  SPENCER  in  Mother  Huh.  'Tale. 
a  Amongft 


ALCHEMIST.  103 

Amongft  the  reft  a  good  old  woman  was, 
Hight  mother  Hubberd^  who  did  far  furpas 
The  reft  in  honeft  mirth,  th&feeflfd  her  well. 

/.  e.  became  her. 

Inftead  of  "  they5  11  feeme  to  follow,"  I  writ  on 
the  margin  of  my  book,  "  they'll  deetne  to  fol- 
"  low." 


"  And  on  your  ftall  a  puppet  with  a.  vice. 

It  mould  be  written  with  a  capital,  A  Vice. 
Meaning  the  droll  character  in  our  old  plays. 
See  B.  JONSON'S  play,  the  Ikvil's  an  AJJ'e. 

Aft  II.  Sc.  I. 

"  You  (hall  no  more  deale  with  the  hollow 
"  die. 

5Twas  an  old  way  of  cheating  among  the 
gamfters  to  make  their  dice  hollow,  and  then, 
by  loading  them,  to  make  them  run  Ugh  or  low. 
Thefe  loaden  dice  were  formerly  made  at  FUL- 
H  AM,  and  hence  called  high  and  low  FULHAM'S  ; 
the  high  were  fo  loaden  as  to  run  4,  5,  or  6  ; 
the  low  to  run  i,  2,  or  3.  To  this  there  is  an 
alluflon  in  Every  Man  out  of  his  Humour  y  Act 
III.  Sc.  VI.  "  CAR.  Who?  he  ferve?  he!  he 
H  4  "keeps 


104  REMARKS    on 

"  keeps  HIGH  men  and  LOW  men,  he!  hee  has  a 
<e  faire  living  at  FULHAM."  And  in  SHAKE- 
SPEARE, in  the  Merry  Wives  ofWmdfor,  A6bl. 

PIST.  Let  vultures  gripe  thy  guts,    for  gourd 

and  FULHAM  holds 
And  high  and  low  beguiles  the  rich  and  poor. 

I  found  gourd  fo  ufed  in  Asc HAM'S  Toxophiius, 
where  he  is  fpeaking  of  falfe  dice,  "  dife  of  a 
"  vantage,  flattes,  gourdes  to  chop  and  chaunge 
"  whan  they  lyfte."  Thefe  kind  of  dice  were 
named  gourds*  from  their  hollownefs  and  fliape. 

Ibid. 

"  SURL.   As  he  that  built  the  water- work, 
,  "  do's  with  water. 

HE,  viz.  Mr.  MIDDLE  TON.  See  STOWE,  Vol. 
I.  p.  26. 

Ibid. 

"  I'll  (hew  you  a  book,  where  MOSES,    and 

««  his  fitter, 

"  And  SOLOMON  have  written  of  the  art ; 
"  I,  and  a  treatife  penn'd  by  ADAM.    SVR. 

"How! 
*  MAM.  O'  the  philofophers  ftone,    and  in 

«'  high-dutch, 

"  SURL. 


the  ALCHEMIST.  105 

c<  SURL.  Did  ADAM  write,    Sir,    in  high- 

"  dutch?  MAM.  He  did. 
"  Which  proves  it  was  the  primitive  tongue. 

FABRICIUS,  in  his  valuable  account  of  antient 
books,  has  given  a  collection  of  the.  writers  on 
chymiftry.  In  thiS  collection  MOSES,  MJRIAM, 
and  SOLOMON  are  cited  :  and  fo  likewife  is  our 
Father  ADAM.  ZOZIMUS  PANOPOLJTA  cites 
the  prophet  MOSES  lv  ^n/xfynx*?  <ruv?a£«.  —  "  Did 
'<  ADAM  write,  Sir,  in  high  Dutch?" 

<{  JOANNES  GOROPIUS  BECANUS,  a  man  ve- 

cc  ry  learned  —  fell  thereby  into  fuch  a  conceit, 
<c  that  he  letted  not  to  maintain  it  [viz.  the  Teu- 
"  tonick  tongue]  to  be  the  firft  and  moft  anci- 
"  ent  language  of  the  world  ;  yea,  the  fame 
"  that  ADAM  fpake  inparadice."  VERSTEGAN 
page  207. 

Ibid. 

"  I  have  a  piece  of  JASON'S  fleece  too, 
"  Which  was  no  other  than  a  book  of  Alche- 

'*  mie, 
*'  Writ  in  large  fheepfkin,    a  good  fat  ram- 

4C  vellam. 

To  U,u9oAostxfvov       uV5ioi/       o?  3/^Aiop   riv  Iv 


c-o\  E'pyaWOcti.  Fide  SUID.  in  wee  AsW. 

Ibid. 


io6  REMARKS    on 

Ibid. 

"  My  flatterers 

<c  Shall  be  the  pure,  and  graveft  of  divines, 
<c  That  I  can  get  for  money. 

The  pure  >  i.  e.  the  puritanical. 

Ibid. 

"  The  tongues  of  carpes,    dormife,    and  ca- 

•c  mels  heeles, 
"  Boil'd  ij  thf  fpirit  of  fol,    and  diffolv'd 

44  pearle, 

(<c  API  c  i  us  diet,  'gainft  the  epilepfie) 
44  And  I  will  eat  thefe  broaths,  with  fpoones 

"  of  amber, 
"  Headed  with  diamant  and  carbuncle. 

From  JULIUS  LAMPRIDIUS  in  the  life  of  HE- 
LIOGABALUS.  "  Comedit  fepiu  s  ad  imitationem 
*c  APICII  calcanea  camelorumy  et  criftas  vivisgal- 
"  linaceis  demptas^  linguas  pavonum  et  lufcimarum: 
"  qiiod  qui  edtret  ab  epilepjid  tutus  diceretur"  —-Sir 
EPICURE  MAMMON'S  dainties  are  mofl  of  them 
mentioned  in  ^ELIUS  LAMPRIDIUS:  foprefent- 
ly  after, 

*c  I  my  felf  will  have 
«  The  beards  of  barbels  ferv'd  inftead  of  fal- 


Barbas 


/^ALCHEMIST.  107 

Barbas  fane  mullorum  tantas  jubebat  exhiberi^  ut 
pro  nafturtiis,  apiaftris^  '  et  facelaribus^  et  fceno- 
grxco  exbiberet  plenis  fabatariis  et  difcis. 

Ibid. 

"  And  the  fwelling  unctuous  paps 
"  Of  a  fat  pregnant  fow,  newly  cut  off", 
"  Dreft  with  an  exquifite  and  poynant  fauce. 

This  favourite  difh  of  the  Romans  is  mentioned 
by  HORACE,  L.  L  Ep.  15. 

. Nil  vuhd  pukrius  ampla. 

CONG ii EVE,  who  was  a  great  admirer  and  imi- 
tor  of  JONSON,  thus  tranQates  the  following 
pafTage  of  JUVENAL.  Sat.  XL  81. 

£$ui  menrinit^  calid#  fapiat  quid  vulva  popin*. 
"  For  fcarce  a  flave,  but  has  to  dinner  now, 
"  The  well-drefs'd  paps  of  a  fat  pregnant  fow. 

Aa  ii.  Sc.  in. 

u  That  you  mould  hatch  gold  in  a  fornace, 

"  Sir, 
*c  As  they  do  eggs  in  Egypt. 

The  Egyptian  manner  of  hatching  eggs  in  an 
pven  is  mentioned  by  SANDYS  in  his  travels,  p. 
125- 

Ibid. 


io8  R  E  M  A  R  K  s    on 

Ibid. 

*  Befide,  who  doth  not  fee,  in  daily  praclife, 
<c  Art  can  beget  bees,  hornets,  beetles,  wafps, 
"  Out  of  the  carcaffes  and  dung  of  creatures : 
"  Yea  fcorpions  of  an  herbe,  being  rightly 
"  plac'd. 

Concerning  this  tranfmutatlon  of  animals 
the  reader  may  confult  PLINY'S  natural  hi- 
ftory,  and  OVID.  Met.  L.  XV.  361,  &V. 
There  is  a  verfe  here,  I  fee,  that  puzzles  the 
commentators  •,  the  copies  all  vary  in  the  read- 
ing, which  is  a  fhrewd  fign  of  its  being  corrupt : 
BURMAN  has  thus  printed  it, 

/,  quoque^  dekffos  maffatos  cbrue  tauros : 

which  I  would  thus  correct,    much  more  after 
the  Ovidian  elegance, 

I quoque  (nee  dubites)  maffatos  obrue  tauros. 
BEETLES  (he  fays)  "  are  begotten  out  of  the 
dung  of  creatures."  In  the  Greek  KAN0A- 
Scarabeus  :  Jic  diftus  -a-aou  rov  xavOwva,  quod 
ex fiercer?  xavOwvo?  i.  e.  afini^  nafcatur.  Our  fore- 
fathers called  the  BEETLE  fcljarntoefod  or  fcearn- 
fiffcl.  i.  e.  the  wevel  born  from  (cent,  ftercus. 
The  learned  WATCHTERUS  obferves  in  WEBEL 

— C6  Nomen 


" 


ALCHEMIST.          109 

— <c  Nomen  infefti  fuperat  afud  Sicambros  quibus 
"  wevel  Scarabcus  et  SchsLrntwevelfcarafausfter- 
"  corarius,  a  fimo  quern  valuta!,  fie  diftus,  qui 
"  vet.  Frifiis  Schern,  Gratis  <rxu£  obfervqnte  Ju- 
"  nioinnot.  ad  Will  p.  220."  And  thus  SOM- 
NER,  "  fcearnfoifaba  Scarabtus.  A  fharnbugg, 
"  the  black  flie  called  a  beetle.  Saxonibus  mo- 
<c  dernis  (Kiliano  tejle}  fcl)earne^toet30r."  Hence 
give  me  leave  to  propofe  a  probable  reading  of 
a  paflage  in  SHAKESPEARE'S  Macbeth^  Adb  ill. 

44  Ere  to  black  Hecat's  fummons 
"  ^The  Jbard-born  beetle  with  his  drowfie  hums 
<c  Hath  rung  night's  yawning  peal. 

I  change  but  a  (ingle  letter,  and  reduce  the  place 
to  a  learned  fenfe  and  allufion, 

"  The  fharn-born  beetle^  &c. 

/.  e.  The  beetle  born  from  dung :  f ceartT,  fmus, 
ftercut :  and  hence  called  the  SH  ARNBUG.  B.  JON- 
SON  in  Every  Man  in  his  Humour ,  Act  2.  Sc.  5. 

"  But  men  of  thy  condition  feed  on  flooth, 
"  As  doth  the  beetle  on  the  dung  fhee  breeds 
"  in. 

SHAKESPEARE  in  Cymbeline  has, 
«  The  fharded  beetle. 


no  REMARKS    on 

i.  e.  Sheltering  itfelf  uiually  under  fhards.  And 
in  ANTONY  and  CLEOPATRA,ENOBARBusfpeak- 
ing  of  LEPIDUS  in  a  ludicrous  image,  fays, 
<c  CV^SAR  and  ANTONY  were  his  lhards,  and  he 
«  their  beetle."  i.  e.  his  pot-fherd  for  him  to 
flicker  himfelf  under. — But  Ifubmit  this  to  the 
learned  and  lovers  of  SHAKESPEARE. — By  the 
bye  SCARABEUS  does  not  come  from  xa^aCo?  as 
Vossius  thinks,  but  from  <ntw£,  whence  feoria, 
and  apes,  a  bee.  i.  e.  a  fijarnbee,  or  fijarnbug. 

Ibid. 

«c  With  all  your  broths,  your  menftrues,  and 

"  materials, 
"  Of  phTe,   and  egge-fhells,  &c. 

In  the  Channon's  Yeman's  tale,  there  is  a 
deal  of  this  fluff  mentioned.  See  URRY'S  edition 
p,  122,  and  thus  point  the  paflage, 

"  Clay  made  with  horfe  dung,  mannis  heere, 

«c  and  oile 
"  Oftartre,  alim,  &c. 

And  a  little  lower, 

"  And  Jupiter  is  tinne, 
<c  And  Venus  copir,  by  my  fathir  kinne. 

We  muft  thus  read, 


cc 


And 


the  ALCHEMIST.  m 

"  And  Jupiter  is  tinne, 
"  And  Venus  copir.  By  my  fathir  kinne, 
"  This  curfid  craft,  &c. 

Ibid. 

" I'll  have  gold  before  you, 

"  And  with  leffe  danger  of  the  quickfilver, 
"  Or  the  hot  fulphur. 

Meaning  with  lefs  danger  of  being  falivated  for 
it. 

Ibid. 

«  SUR.  Sir,  I  will 
"  But  by  attorney,  and  to  a  fecond  purpofe, 

i.e.  I  will  delegate,  as  it  were,  or  appoint  fome 
other  character  to  aft  inftead  of  my  own  proper 
character.  He  fpeaks  this  ufide.  For  foon  af- 
ter he  puts  on  the  perfon  of  a  Spanifh  Don. 
ATTORNEY,  i.e.  quiad[turnum]vicema!terius 
conftitutus  eft.  So  in  SHAKESPEARE'S  Meafure 
for  Meafure^  Aft  V.  "  I  am  dill  attornied  at 
"  yourfervice."  In  K.  Richard  III.  Aft  IV. 

"  Therefore,  dear  mother,  I  muft  call  you  fo, 
*'  Be  the  attorney  of  my  love  to  her. 

The  firft  part  of  K.  Henry  VI.  Aft  V. 

"  And  yet  methinks  I  could  be  well  content 

"To 


H2  REMARKS  on 

"  To  be  mine  own  attorney  in  this  cafe* 
i.  e.  to  acl:  for  my  felf . 

A61II.   Sc.IV. 

"  I  muft  ufe  him 

"  In  fome  ftrange  fafhion  now  to  make  him 
<c  admire  mee. 

Nothing  can  be  finer  imagined,  than  this 
change  of  SUBTLE'S  behaviour.  Fools  always 
admire  what  they  leaft  underftand ;  and  cha- 
racters is  the  leaft  they  are  acquainted  with.  To 
the  voluptuous  and  wicked  MAMMON,  SUBTLE 
appears  holinefs  and  humility  itfelf :  to  the  igno- 
rant and  devout  ANANIAS,  he  appears  all  learn- 
ing and  fcience  ;  to  which  every  other  confide1* 
ration  muft  fubmit.  And  all  this,  very  agree- 
able to  the  rules  of  decorum,  to  excite  the  admi- 
ration and  wonder  of  thefe  various  kinds  of 
fools. 

Aft  II.  Sc.  V. 

"  SUET.  Heathen,   you  knipper- doling  ? 
KNIPPERDOLING  was  one  of  thofe  enthufiaftic 
anabaptifts,  who,  with  John  of  Leyden,  and  the 
reft  of  the  fanatical  crew,    raifed  fuch  diftur- 
bances  in  the  Low-Countries  about  the  year 

'533* 


the  ALCHEMIS^.          nj 

Aft  II.  Sc.  VI. 

ic  —  And  is  come  up 
"  To  Jearne  to  quarrel!,  ,and  to  live  b,y  has 

4<  wits, 
•*  And  will  gp  dqwn  againe,   anc}  dye  i*  the 

"  country. 
"JpAC.  How!  t,o  quarrell  ?  DRU.  Yes,  Sir? 

"  tp  carry  quarrels, 
"  As  galjants  do,  and  manage  'hem  by  line. 

u$  in  the  life  of  ^  Elftft- 
that  in  h,er  reign  the  Engjifh  fir  ft  learnt 
the  art  of  pufjiing  with  fingle  rapier.  Being 
rAeer  apes  of  the  French  we  mimic  them  in  all 
their  follies.  Immediately  this  fencing  art  was 
learnt  by  aJl  who  would  be  called  gentlemen  ; 
and  many  filly  books  were  written  upon  the  oc- 
cafion  •,  not  only  of  the  art  of  fencing,  but  how 
to  manage  quarrels  &c.  to  which  SHAKESPEARE 
and  JQNSON  both  allude,  in  many  paffages  of 
their  plays;  an,4  doubtlefs  the  ridicule  had  its 
proper  force  in  thofe  days. 

III.  Sc.  IL 


" 


"  Nor  call  your  felves 
By  names  of  Tribulation,  ferfecution, 


Rt- 


U4  REMARKS  0# 

*'  Reftrazntj  Long-patience,  and  fuch  like  af- 


" 


By  the  whole  family  or  WOOD  of  you. 

He  ufes  this  expreflion  in  the  fame  fenfe  in  The 
Silent  Woman*  Aft  II.  Sc.  II.  ««  If  precife,  you 
"muft  feaft  all  the  filenc'd  brethren  once  in 
**  three  daies;  falute  the  lifters;  entertaine  the 
"  whole  family  or  WOOD  of  'hem  ;  and  heare 
«c  long-winged  [read  long-winded'}  exercifes,  fing- 
*l  ings,  and  catechifings,  &c."  WOOD  here 
(ignifies  the  fame  as  SILVA  or  TAH  fometimes, 
viz.  a  flock  of  things,  or  plenty  of  matter 
brought  together,  or  mifcellaneous  fubjects: 
Silva  rerum  et  fententiarum  comparanda  eft,  fays 
CICERO  de  Or  at.  Hence  fome  poets  intitle  their 
mifcellaneous  works  Siharum  libri  :  and  our  poet 

Calls  his  THE  FOREST. 


IIL  Sc,  in. 

«c  FAC.  Let  him  go,  black  boy, 
t  c<  And  turne  thee,  that  fome  frefh  news  may 

*'  poflefle  thee. 

Black-boy]  In  Every  Man  cut  of  bis  Humour  Act 
I.  Sc.  II.  «  CAR.  O,  he's  a  black  fellow,  take 
**  heed  on  him."  From  HORACE, 

—  Hie  niger  eft,  bunc  tu,  Romans,  caveto. 

SHAK 


//&<?  ALCHEMIST.  115 

SHAKESPEARE  in  K.  Lear  Aft  II.  "  Look'd 
"  black  upon  me."  BLACK  fignifies  inauspicious^ 
unfortunate,  mifcbievou-s  &c. — So  again,  in  allu- 
fion to  their  marking  their  days  white  or  black^ 
HORACE  fays, 

"  Hue  cine  folem 
"  fam  nigrum  furrexe  mibi? 

And  turn  tbee]  i.  e.  turn  thy  attention  to  me, 
I'll  tell  thee  fome  frefti  news.  He  tranflates 
literally,  and  in  the  fame  elliptical  manner,  AD- 
VERTE. 

Aft  III.  Sc.  III. 
—My  little  Gods-gift* 

So  he  calls  DOL.  in  allufion  to  her  name  Do- 
rothea: Gr.  the  gift  of  God.  This  manner 
of  alluding  to  the  proper  names  is  very  com- 
mon in  our  learned  poets.  So  MILTON,  IIL 
656.  URIEL — glorioufly  bright:  and  #.  667. 
bright  eft  ferapb.  In  allufion  to  his  name  in  He- 
brew, and  B.  VI.  29.  ABDIEL — -feruant  of  God, 
B.  II.  43.  MOLOC — fceptredKiuc.  [rxwrlxxcs 
(BacriXfu?,  Hom.  II.  a]  B.  X.  581.  ElJRYNOMB 
— the  wide-encroaching :  Gr.  ab  «J^u\  et  i/i^w,  pof- 
fideo :  for  thofe  who  are  great  pofTeflbrs,  arc 
confequently  great  encroachers. 

I  2  «« And 


x  1  6      ,     REMARKS    on 
<6  And  fabled  how  the  ferpent,    whom  thejr 

"call'd 

"  Ophion,  with  Eurynome  the  wide  — 
"  Encroaching,  (Eve  perhaps,  )  had  firfl  the 

16  rule 

"  Of  high  Olympus  ;  thence  by  Saturn  driv'n, 
**  And  Ops,  ere  yet  Dictian  Jove  was  born. 

So  the  place  is  to  be  pointed  ;   being  an  imita- 
tion of  ApoLLONiVs,  I,  503. 


TI 


^lf  T£ 

*H 


ET* 


vJK/jEcrxcy  UTTO  'irir/off*    bi  Jg  jMi'y  aw 
Hf?  K.uxAw7rf?   Ixa^IuvavIo  xe^auvw 
TS  SToTrf  Vs.  ra     «    Au  xu^bf  oTraJE*. 


indiftum  reliquit*  ut  primitus  Ophion  cum 

Eurynomn 
Oceaniflia  in  nivali  Oly  mpo  fuermt  rerumpo- 

////, 
Et  manibus  coaffi  'concsffcrint  pr6toinciam^    Hie 

Saturno 
1ft  a  Rbe#  ;   poftremo  in  Octant  prdcipitarint 


Ac 


'  j     /^ALCHEMIST.  117 

jfc  tfti  tqntifper  Ti  tarns  imperavcrint,  beat  is  diis^ 
Dum  Jupiter  et  <etate  adtiuc  et  mente  puer 
Difttfofub  antroageret,  neque  dym  terrigetue 
Ipfam  Cyclopes  communiijjent  fulmine, 
Tonitru,  fulgure.  b<ec  eninifunt  in  quibus  trium- 

pbat  Jupiter. 

The  tranflation  is  as  I  find  it.  In  the  laft  line 
the  editor  was  led  into  an  error  by  the  faultinefs 
of  the  context,  for  we  muft  read  the  proper 
names  of  thefe  VulcanianQistis  in  the  nominative 
cafe,  being  put  in  appofition  with  Ku'xA«?rf?.  See 
HESIODW#£.  $.  140,  and  VIRGIL  &n.  VIII. 
.424.  Cyclopes  - 

Brontefque  Steropefque  - 


to  return  —  MILT.ON'S  allufion  to  the  ety- 
mology is  very  poetical  in  other  words,  ex:  gr^ 
Thus  Satan  [B.  VI.  3  *  .]  addreffes  the  Sun. 

"  O  thou  that  with  furpafling  glory  crown'd 
^LjpOJtft  from  thy  fole  dominion  like  the 

"God 
*'  Of  this  new  world—  — 


He  feys  file  dominion  in  allufiontp  its  etymolp- 
gy ;  Cicero  de  Nat.  Deor.  L.  II.  27.]   Cum  SOL 

I   3  diffus 


ii8  REMARKS    on 

diftus  vel  quia  SOLUS  ex  omnibus  ftderibus  eft  tan* 
tusj  vel  quia  cum  eft  exortus  obfcuratis  omnibus  fo- 
lus  apparet.  BOETHIUS  L.  V.  Metr.  2. 

*'  Quern  quia  refpicit  omnia  folus 
*c  Verum  pojfis  dicer e  Solem. 

The  learned  WATCHTERUS  in  V.  fonuc,  has  the 
following  obfervation:  "  Quemadmodum  Lati- 
"  nis  soLJudice  Ciceronejic  dicitur,  quod  tantam 
"  claritatem  SOLUS  haberet.  It  a  in  voce  Germa- 
"  nicafimlle  quid  fufpicatur  Cluverius  L.  /.  Germ. 
*c  Ant.  C.  26.  quqfi  maximum  illud  fydus  nobis  ap- 
Cf  pelletur  fort  ab  argumenlo  unitatis,  hac  impri- 
"  mis  duftus  ratione,  quod  a  fon  derivatis  vocibus 
"  dicimus  fonuer,  fonDerltcl?,  fonuerbar,  quod 
"  unumy  folurn^  etfmgulum  eft,  et  fonDern  fegre- 
**  gare*  Secundum  hanc  conjefturam  fonn^  erit  ab 
*c  an,  ein,  unus,  folus^  pr*pofttofibilo,  quod  mi- 
*'  ror  Cluverium  non  annotajje"  Again,  THE 
NIGHTINGALE  is  named  from  night  and  galait* 
canere.  Germ,  nacjjftgal,  quod  noftu  fantt\\  dum 
c*ter<efilent  aves.  Hence  MILTON  V,  40.  The 
night -warbling  bird)  B.  Ill,  38.  as  the  wakeful 
far djings  darkling:  LUSCINIA  (fays  Voscius) 
quod  lugens  canet.  I  think  not,  but  quia  lujcum 
tantt,  i.  e.  fmgs  darkling.  But  of  this  enough. 


Aft 


tie  ALCHEMIST,  119 


Sc.  IV. 

"  ——But  I  have  heard  fome  fpeech 
*'  Of  the  angry  fays. 

See  above  p.  63,  64, 


in.  Sc.  v. 

"  What  mall  we  do  with  this  fame  puffing. 

So  the  lawyer's  dark  is  called,  the  fame  meta 
phor  as  above  —  T&is  qttodling.  See  p.  99*  A  PUT 
FIN,  malxm  fulmnettm* 


iv.  SC.VIL 

"  SUR.  Hydra  of  villanie! 

The  plot  of  SURLY,  and  the  counterplot  ol 
FACE  and  SUBTLE,  are  highly  agreeable  to  co- 
mic humour:  nor  were  things  ripe  yet  for  a 
full  difcovery.  SURLY  finding  himfelf  quite 
baffled  with  thefe  fools  and  knaves  cries  out* 
"  Hydra  of  villany!"  The  Greek  proverb  is 
As'^wj  xaxu*,  Lerna  mdorum:  the  name  of  the  fa- 
mous lake  where  HERCULES  deftroyed  the  HY- 
DRA, whofe  heads  ('tis  fabled)  grew  as  faft  as 
they  were  cut  off* 

I  4 


120  R  E  M  A  R  K  S    (fo 

Ibid. 

<e  HIERONYMO'S  old  cloake,  ruffe,  and  hat 
"  will  ferve. 

/.  e.  he  might  go  to  the  players,  and  borrow  of 
them  the  old  cloake,  ruffe,  £hd  'to,  which  they 
wore,  when  they  a<5ted  HIERONYMO:  this 
drefs  would  ferve  for  the  prefent  purpofe.  This 
'play  is  ridiculed  in  Every  Man  in  bis  Humour, 
Act  I.  Sc.  V.  "  What  new  book  ha'  you  there  ? 
"  what !  .go  £y,  Hieronymo  ?"  See  Mr.  THEO- 
BALD'S ingenious  note  on  a  paifage  in  SHAKE- 
SPEARE'S Taming  of  a  Shrew^  pag.  27 1>  272. 

Ibid. 
*c  Cdffie  IbaVe  yourqm&ljris. 

Qui&fins,  rtyiilkts  and  quiddity  are  words  we 
riieetVith'in  our  'did  plays.  SHAKESPEARE  in 
the  firft'paft!6f  ;K.  Henry  VI.  Ad  1L 

"  But  infhefe  nice  Ih'arp  quillets  of  the  law. 

>In'Ham!ct  Ad  V.  "  Why  may  not  that  be  the 
Uifcull  of  a  lawyer  ?  where  be  \\isquiddits  now  ? 
"  •his.-pw//^  ?"  In^the  firft  part  of  K.  Henry  IV. 
-Ad  I.  «c  What  'in  thy  £%r  and  quiddities?" 
SPENCER  B.  VI.  C.  7.  ft.  44. 

**  The  more  he  laughs  and  does  her  clofely 
**  quip.  i.  e. 


the   ALCHfcMISt1.  121 

i.  f.  jeer  her.  flout  her.  Let  us  now  trace  the 
original  of  the  word,  a  ^Gr.  nMw,  comes  to 
qtity.  And  the  fubftantive  a  qaijp.  Hence  the 

diminutives,  a  quibble^  quibblin^  quiblet,  quillet. 
The  other  word  -qttiddi'^  is  frotn  quvddam,  quid- 
dam^  in  the  barbarous  Latinky  quiddijas,  liaL 
quiddita.  qutcfc,  I  would  toting  from  the  Lat. 
drcare^  circuitio  ;  a  circum. 

Ibid. 

<c  Do  you  two  pack  up  ^11  the  goods  and 
"  purcbafe. 

PURCHASE  [xar*  cJcp^o-^ov.  -II^v  T«  j&rxiqwift- 
^ov.]  i.  e.  rob&eries.  Hence  is  to  be  explained 
SHAKESPEARE  in  'K.  -Henry  V.  Act  III. 

"  Soy.  They  will  deal  any  thing  and  call  it 
"  purcbafe. 

CHAUCER  in  his  prophecy, 
"  And  robberie  is 


.  sc.n. 

Ct  How  lhall  Lbeat  them  off?  what  fhall  I  doe? 
'**  'Nothing's  more  wretched  than  a  guilty  con- 


Sed  quidnam  bic  }efe  tarn  cito  recipit  domwn  ? 
Mftuo  ne  de  bacve  quippiam'bic  inau'divefit. 

3  Accedam 


122  REMARKS    on 

Accedam  atque  appellate.  beuy  quam  timeo  mifer  ! 

NlHIL  EST  MISERIUS,  QUAM  ANIMUS  HOMI- 

NIS  CON.SCIVS.  Plaut.  MoflelL 

A6t  V.  Sc.  III. 

ec  KAS.  You  will  not  come  then?  pmqtte,  de- 
"  inee^   my  fufter  ! 

It  fhould  be,  funque  devife,  i.  e.  a  points  devljez. 
CH  A  u  CE  R  in  the  Romaunt  of  the  Rofe.  1215. 

Hernofe  was  wrought  at  point  devife, 

/.  e.  with  utmoft  exadnefs.  So  here  punqtte  devife 

means,  thou  arrant  whore. 

foinfsfcjx^  3d  03  .-$!  sorfsH     ,iVn^^*t  .$  j  f  .^ 

Aft  V.  Sc.  IV. 
c<  I,  much,  indeed. 
See  above  p.  50,  51. 

Ibid. 

"  HIERONYMO'S  cloake. 
See  above  p.  1  20. 


"  Dodlor  ,'tis  true  0^«  /^)  for  all  your  figures, 

/.  e.  you  look  to  that.  —  I   wrote  on  the  margin 
of  my  book. 

"  Dcc~tor,'tis  true(fcrf)w)  for  all  your  figures. 

Ibid. 


tie  ALCHEMIST.  123 

m.jifli  slds.ifiTfis'i  A     05no:::r:3  33u  3^1  cf  r; 
Ibid. 

4«  Thou  flialt  ha'  my  letter  to  miftrefs  AMO. 

"  DOL.  Hang  you. 
46  FAC.  Or  madam 


The  names  of  two  bauds  in  our  poet's  time  : 
one  of  them  is  mentioned  in  his  epigrammes. 

4C  And  madame  C<efar,  great  Proferptna, 

•'  Is  now  from  home. 

Aft  V.  Sc.  V. 

"  Ding  it  open. 

Ding  is  often ufed  by  DOUGLAS;  and  is  thus 
explained  by  the  fcholiaft  <c  Ding*  to  beat, 
"  tbruft  down,  give  a  blow,  drive.  It.  beaten, 
"  tbruft  open,  overcome,  allifus,  illifus:  nefcio 
"  (inquit  Sk.)  an  a  Tent.  Dringett,  urgere,  pre- 
^  mere:  elifa  fc,  propter  euphoniam  afperrima 
**  ilia  litera  canina  r."  But  how  much  better 
<l  by  the  late  editor  of  JUN  jus,  ab  Hib.  dingim. 
"  urgere  pellere."  To  DRING  they  now  ufe  in 
the  weft  of  England,  i.  e.  to  tbrong :  from  the 
Teut.  Dreitgett,  ftrtngen,  urgere,  trudere.  And 
Jikewife  TO  DING,  as  here  in  our  poet. 

Ibid. 

*c  Lov.    Come,    will  you  quarrel  ?    I   will 
*  ^feize  you,  firrah.  Thus 


124  $M4  *  $s 

Thus  the  late  editions.  A  remarkable  inftance 
of  corruption,  by  our  modern  corruptors,  com- 
monly called  corre&ors  of  the  prefs.  The 
old  editions  read,  "  I  will  fei&s  you."  A  'word 
ftill  ufed  in  the  weft  of  England,  from  the  An- 
glo-S,  &(&&>  fug*™*  CFAUCER  in  the  mcry 
adventure  of  jtfoe  Pardonere  and  Tapflere,  351. 

««  SJial  I  com  then,  Chrjftiacb  and  fefe  away 
"  the  cat. 

*.  e.  drive  away.  SHAKESPEARE  too  in  the 
Taming  off  he  Shrew,  Aft  I.  **i'll  pheeze  you/' 
And  in  Troilus  and  Cre/.  Aft  H.  "  FH\pheefe 


"  .Gentlemen, 

<c  My  part  a  little  fell  in  ,this  laft  fcene, 
decorum.  ..... 


INDEX 


INDEX. 


A. 


Gm,  how  fbmetimes  ufed      "^JPage  34 
AN  ACRE  ON,  explained  28 

corrected  29 

s,  croiTeSred  and  explained  ii,  116, 


117 

ARISTOPHANES,  cofre&ed  and  explained  26,  27 

C. 

CHAUCER,  explained  15 


too 
D. 

Dionyftus  Longinus,  corredled  and  illuftrated  22 
To  Doe,  how  ufed  34. 

To  dor,  to  give  a  man  the  dor  72 

••jfc 

-Facer  e>  how  ufed  34 

tulhams,  high  and  low  ^ic^,  104 


how  ufed  loo 

HORACE,  vindicated  £nd  explained  6,  7 

explained  &6 

1. 

how  ufed  ^6,87 


INDEX. 

JONSON,  in  his  Catiline,  corrected     16,  17,  40 

. — Sejanus,  corredted  7,  17 

-  .    .      Every  Man  out  of  his  Humour ,  explain- 
ed 15,  103 

_ Bartholomew  Fair,  illuftrated  26 

Poetajler,  afcene  there  imitated  fromLft- 

cian's  Lexipbanes 
— Devil's  an  dffe,  explained  and  correde 

32 

. -'Tale  of  a  <Tub,  corrected  86 

JUVENAL,  correded        66, 67,  68,  69,  70,  71 

L. 

LONGINUS,   corre6led  and  illuftrated  22 

LUCIAN,   in  his  Lexifhanes  imitated  by  JON- 

SON  3 

lMderey  how  ufed  8  j 

M. 

Rafter,  how  ufed  2 

span,  mannifl),  mankind  92,  93 

MILTON,  correded  and  illuftrated  115,116 

Cotton  54 


To  note  48,  49 

O. 

OVID,  in  Met  am.  correded  14*  108 

Art.  Am.  correded  59, 60,  61, 62,  83,  £4, 

86,  87,  94 

— * — explained  tfi,  80,  84 
De  Triji.  correded  8 


INDEX. 

P. 

PLATO,  corre&ed  21,  22 

PLAUTUS,  explained  53,  74 

pncfeftft  73 

noiEIN,  howufed                           v  34 

4>H2I,  how  ufed  87 
PROVERBS 

To  pour  oil  into  a  man's  ears  2  r 
—To  take  a  graihopper  by  the  wings        41 

As  merry  as  a  Greek  48 

A  juniper  lecture  102 

• Hydra  of  villany  119 

—As  frefh  as  a  mufhroom  73 

To  give  a  man  the  dor  72 

Qt 

To  quctt  48,  49 

R. 
A  roufe  78 

S. 

Scarabeus,  whence  derived  no 

SHAKESPEARE,    in  the  Tempejt,    explained  and 

vindicated  20 

1/?  part  of  K.  Henry  IV.  explained  3* 

K.  Henry  V.  explained  97,  98,  121 

— — K.  Lear,  explained  33 

• corrected  90,  91 

Taming  of  ajhrew9  corrected  and  explained 

34 

Macbeth,  explained  and  vindicated        47 

•     corrected  109 

SHAKE* 


INDEX. 

SHAKESPEARE,  Twelfth  Nigbt,  explained        48 
Coriolanusi  explained  93 

Hid. 


)  explained  Hi 

.  -  As  you  Like  it,  correfted  95,  96 

T. 

¥  anger  ey  how  ufed  83 

The  trice  103 
W. 


ERRATA. 

Page  22.  1.  11.  rW,   A*0*HTI. 

Page  100.  L  1-5.  read,  Spe  above  p.  73>  74. 


_  ---  rj.  JAN 


UVL 


Whalley,  Peter 

2975        An  enquiry  into  learnin, 
W5       of  Shakespeare 


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